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LEGENDS OF THE WIRELESS PIONEERS
YOAV ALU
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SPARKS -
VOLUME 3, NUMBER |
THE ‘KES’ STOK
JOURNAL "KES" EDITION
A TRIBUTE TO OUR LAND-STATION “PROFESSIONALS” THE WORLD-OVER
Highlights of my 35 years at KFS By Eben K. Cady
KFS did get those messages and from them and many others; an espionage communications circuit was developed deep into enemy held territory from the mountains of Luzon to the jungles of Mindanao. This mission continued until General MacArthur re- turned to the Philippines.
Before going into this episode, I would like to give a brief account of the part played by the Marine Radio Coastal Stations which extend around the sea ports and coastal areas of the world.
... going - but not gone!
We all know, that as a profession, the radio telegrapher and the radio telegraph stations are joining the ranks of "endan- gered species." Whether these relay kites, 22,000 miles up in the eky, can furnish the game eaafety and services to the Stips sailing the oceans of the world remains to be seen.
Preface
This story by Eben K. Cady graphically reviews the years between 1931 and 1965. During this time, he was progressively Operator, Chief Operator, Ass't. Station Manager and finally Station Man- ager of one of the major commercial stations of the world. KFS was located on the West Coast of the USA near the Port City of San Francisco.
These years were hectic ones for operators at these major terminal facilities. Little has ever been released or published about the part professional men, at these major stations around the world, played in assisting the war effort. Bound by a code of secrecy and loyalty where the slightest mistake might mean the sinking of a ship or place the lives of men on the line, these men fulfilled
their mission with cool efficiency and with a super-sense of pat- riotism. Historically, we think their stories should now be re- corded for posterity.
Society member "Eb" Cady (54-SGP) has distinguished himself as one of the outstanding communications men of the world - esp- ecially in the maritime field which linked ships and aircraft with the shores of all civilized countries. The Society feels singularly honored by the selection of Mr. Cady as our Third President, a position he filled with honor and distinction. Few have the oppor- tunity or can equal the life-experience in radio telegraph field that member Eben K. Cady brings to the Society.
The letters quoted at the start of the story are an exchange between Mr. Bodolfo M. Claparols, Regional Director of the Western Visa- yas, Republic of the Philippines and His Honor, Tne Mayor, City of San Francisco. The Society feels honored to be able to pub- lish this story which is a part of the heritage of those of our honor-
ed eratt. William A. Breniman - Editor
Recording the Early History & Development of the Wireless
Services and procedures of coastal stations may vary 1n some way but all use the International Morse Code and the Interna- tional Q Signals. Most are bound by the International Rules and Regulations of the Telecommunications Union of Geneva. This set-up makes it quite easy to communicate with stations of different nationalities and language.
1931 - Start of a long career
After nine years rolling the briny deep on Federal Telegraph Arc Ships, I was transferred to their coastal station KFS. I was hired as a high frequency operator. This was in 1931.
( CONTINUED ON PAGE 22 )
MAY THE SEA GULL OF HAPPINESS FLY WITH YOU THROUGHOUT THE COMING YEAR
—
‘SEASONS SS EEETINGS
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THE “KFS” ELITION
SOWP. ‘PROFESSIONAL’ MEMBERS ARE IN EVERY CORNER OF THE WORLD
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SPARKS JOURNAL 0
SPARKS JQUANAL ar ee a USPS - 365-050
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Published quarterly for our professional members with issues scheduled for Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter (although not so marked) by the Society of Wireless Pioneers, Inc., a non- profit organization chartered as such under the laws of the State of Calif, Coocies are furnished sustaining members of the Society who pay for samme through ques. A limited num- ber of publications are mailed without cost to selected Tech- nical Institutions, Colleges, Universities, Libraries, Museurn and National Archives that have requested copies for reference or educational purposes,
MAILING ADDRESS: P.O. Box 530, Santa Aosa, Calif. 95402. Direct all inquiries and correspondence, including Change of Address for expeditious attention and handling.
EDITORIAL OFFICE: 3966-15 Mendocino Avenue, Santa Alosa CA 95401 USA. (Telephone 707/542-0898). Editor and Ex- eculive Director, William A. Greniman,
The Society does not solicit or accept subscriptions or adver- tisements for its publications from the public.
The primary purpose and objective of the Society is that of collecting, researching, and recording the history of communi- cations = particularly that which relates to Hertzian waves and the wireless or radio-telegraph mode of the art.
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Every effort is made to assure the validity and authenticity of material published herein; However the Society and its officers assure mo responsibility for error. Manuscripts and
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, - ry irti I ‘ i : = an . HISTORICAL INTEREST FEATURES NOTE: DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS AND TECHNICAL DIF- submitting end do not necessarily sgree with thoes of the Soe- ; sity = bie EF VR NCARSD FICULTIES, A FEW OF THE STORIES SCHEDULED FOR THIS lety or its officers.
. "KFS" STORY - LBEN K. CADY (WAR YLARS ISSUE MAD TO BL RESCHEDULED. THEY WILL BE CARRIED SECOND CLASS POSTAGE has been paid at Santa Rosa, CA 4. FALL RIVER LINE ~ RAYMOND GREEN IN THE FORTHCOMING ISSUE OF SPARKS JOURNAL. 95402, Please send form 3579 to - Society of Wireless Pio- 9, ADMIRAL ELLERY W. STONE - FRED ROSEBURY neers, Inc. if copy can not be delivered.
1]. AMOS EMERSON DOLBLAR - HLRBERT J. SCOT! WE FIND IT DIFFICULT TO SCHEDULE ARTICLES FROM OUR ve will try to es care with pictures, m/s. etc. 12. COMMUNICATIONS ON THE GREAT LAKES MEMBERS IN ADVANCE DUL TO MANY VARYING FACTORS 11 and like material) received. However the Society and its . = io : po ttle i not ac ponsibili LCDR. JAMES R. COMERFORD, USCG will HENCEFORTH BE DISCONTINUED. pidlarials. -Thaeetecuetives vehi: ef cane lor tote wekai
14. UP THE AMAZON - MATTHLW CAMILLO
Include 5. A.5. E. to cover return and/or reply. 15. WESTWARD HO .., TO EUROPE - D. K. deNLUE [aii ice MAY BE TAKEN THAT REGULAR FEATURES SCHEDULED :
18. PORTISHEADRADIO/GKA - DON MULHOLLAND IN THE JOURNAL WILL APPEAR IN A NEW SKIPPER'S LOG PUBLICATION DATE - DECEMBER 18 1979 _
32. SEA LANGUAGE WASHES ASHORE - Rw L. SCHLINE (wyjcpH witht BE MALLED ALL MEMBERS SEVERAL TIMES ISSUE: Vovume 3, no. 1
REGULAR FEATURES YEARLY. THIS WILL INCLUDE CHAPTER NEWS AND DIR- NAMED “THE “KFS” EDITION” IN HONOR OF EBEN. ——=—— fECTURIES; ALL PERSONNLL CHANGES (NEW MEMBERS, SILENT K CADY & LANDSTATION OPERATORS, WORLD OVER 3, EPISODES & EXPERIENCES ‘KEYS, CHANGES OF ADDRESS, EIC.); SOWP AMATLUR NET- a |
SS Se a i ea i ee,
(MEMBERS LETTERS (DITLD BY FRED ROSEBURY) = yorRKS (SCHLDULES AND AUWS). ALSO INCLUDED WILL BE 16/17CENTER SPREAD UF SOWP MEMBERS - PICTURIS | peRIODIC LISTING OF SLOP CHEST ITEMS, CIC. WE HOPE
31. THE SKIPPER'S LOG : ‘TO COVER ALL IN GREATER DETAIL THAN WE HAVE BEEN 31. SALT WATER BOOKSHLLF - BOOK REVILWS /ABLE TO DO in THF SPARKS JOURNAL . a a a mm
ed Qe Se
PRESIDENT ittiam A. Breniman
VICE PRESIDENTS
Judge Jarnes Harvey Brown - Senior Eben K. Cady = Finance & Audits John N. Elwood - Membership William ©. Willmot - Chapters, P&A Col. Manuel Fernandez - Awards;
SECRETARY
rof. J. Scott TREA — = A
orin SG. De Merritt AREA LIAISON ZC INATI! TAFF Arthur W. Filtness Canada Comelis Glerurn Northem Europe Edwin G. Aaser NE. USA Ero Erickson Great Lakes (USA) Wm J. O'Brien Australia, So.Pac., Dady S,. Major India, SW Asia
Karl H.W. Baarslag S.E. USA Harry A. Maclaren Gulf Coast
John A. Edwards England Jose Contreras A. So. America Joseph Falbo Ariz. SW USA
V.H."Eby" Conradt-Eberlin Pacific N.W.
CHIEF OPERATOR Oscar T. Harrison WSOKU, Spring, Texas
DIRECTORS
Arthur W. Filtness Vancouver, B.C. Dexter 5. Bartiott Portland, Oregon Emest F. Wiimshurst Fallbrook, Calil. Ralph C. Folkman Cleveland, Ohio Col.Allen Bamabei Silver Spring, MO. Eerl W, Kort Lincroft, NJ Gerald A. Whiltteker Santa Aoss, Calif.
EDITORIAL STAFE
William A. Breniman - Editor & Publisher
Fred Rosebury - Associate Editor.
Thorn L. Mayes - Historical (Equipment & Systems) Prot. Herbert J. Scott - Historical ( Biographer)
Dexter S. Bartlett - Wireless Almanac
Oscar Horrison - Nets, Schedules & Amateur Operations Elmer H. Burgman - Librarian / Reviews
fessionals -
DOE
@ AJben Thomes Convention & Exhiba Center @ Jone Hall lon the Peles fren Aria ® Sam Houston Calieun @ Houston Music Mall
Reprinted - Courtesy Houston Texas Civic Center .....: (the "can-do, want-to" people)
pr maa a i le ee a ye
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THE “KES” ELITICN
THE SPARKS JOURNAL
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Adventures & Experiences of Professional Brass Pounders Around the World
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THE WIRELESS FICMIER
NAVY RADIO EXPERIENCES IN WW2 {* | AuwAys Kiod WHEW THe Sas is ow—me Fer Tickie, " |
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THE GLORY OF THE SEA
Dave Hardacker writes that from 1939 to 1943 he was a Radio Striker, RM2/c and RM1/c CW operator in the USS CHICAGO (CA29-NAGM) a heavy cruiser commissioned in 1929; a Radio Technician and Chief Radio Technician in the USS CATES (DE763), 1943 through 1944; and Chief Radio Technician in the USS LOUISVILLE (CA2s- | commissioned in 1928, a sister-ship of the USS } CHICAGO) in 1945, |
The CHICAGO was the Commander of the Cruiser
The glory of the ocean, The glory of the sea, The memory of the rolling waves is flowing over me. The foaming spray, the flying wind, The flags that flap so gaily, The little gulls that swoop and dive Are the songs of a sailor, matey.
Scouting Force and Commander of the Hawaiian Detachment in the period from 1940 through the end of 1941, In March of 1941 the CHICAGO made
a trip to Sydney, Australia, with ship's prints and fueling hoses. By late 1941 she was back in Australia as a member of the ANZAC Naval Squad- ron which was the only Naval force in the South |
A ship is a girl to follow long, A wench with a thousand wiles, she breaks your heart on a stormy night
And blesses when she smiles. Pacific in early 1942, This Squadron was made
/ 1 / 1 | / ‘ / up of Australian, New Zealand, Free French, she takes you to her mother breast } Dutch, and three US Naval ships. By late 1942 When the land has cast you down, mais eee Sener ene areca ce i | : . 3 6 e seventy fe She rocks your drunken head till dawn, j her bow blown off in such a battle in early And smooths away your frown. August 1942, She sat in the harbor at Noumea, 7 New Caledonia, and for some time acted as Radio { South Pacific. In this function, before there | / was a radio station operational in the area,the j CHICAGO relayed traffic from the invasion force / | at Guadalcanal to Fleet headquarters in Hawaii, , | ! ‘ | ) ( .
The high born and the low born come To ships of the seven seas; Ft"s a hard life and a jolly life, A life of work and ease. The siren call of lands beyond Will fellow the sailor ashore, And he misses the rollicking mates he loved When he's old and can ship no more!
A Sep erecy bow was put on in S which enabled the ship to make it to the yates major repairs,
While Dave was a Radio Technician he also filled in as CW radio operator, especially in the USS CATES where he was involved with the
tates for
"“Huff-Duff" (HF /DF) system of locating German Se ee ee ee ee U-boat units. The CATES was the Commander of
( | | Escort Division 54 which ran convoys in the a\nnll | Atlantic. He was also on the Crypto Board of ! ADVENTURES OF A BRASS POUNDER the USS CATES and Escort Division 54, in which he ran ECM US crypto machines and British ECCM crypto machines. As he had been a CW operator After finishing radio school in Boston where he could sometimes break garbled messages better} I received a second class license in 1923, I than others on the crypto board, Signed on the SS Stephen R. Jones (WJCX),a coal In the USS LOUISVILLE, a heavy cruiser, he carrier. The company went bankrupt shortly there- was Chief Radio Technician, The LOUISVILLE had / after, upon which I obtained a berth on the MV fifteen battle stars; it could no longer keep up) San Jose (GFZQ) which carried two radiomen, The with the fleet, When the war ended she was sent} San Jose, under the British flag, was chartered to Vladivostok, USSR, as a submarine communica- { by the United Fruit Co., the Great White Fleet. tions ship. After a few trips to Central American ports, I ) j was transferred to a larger ship, the MV San vahar COXA HOLS ie Wk ae ae eee agiey Benito (KDJ),also in the banana trade. It is , y ; | interesting to note that the San Jose was sunk power HF water-cooled transmitter (TBA Xmitter } by a German U-boat during WW2. I have no inforn- es exciter for an amplifier known as TBB) for Cw; ation about casualties. j After a rather short sojourn at sea, the itch ; to be a landlubber again impelled me to become
»»+John Warwick Daniel III
“y \ only.
Dave was also a sonar CW operator for a bit. | This was used to communicate with US Submarines.) | Morse telegrapher tor Western Union and Postal |
Continued on Page 21 / Telegrap!: Companies in various cities, one of }) which was Worcester, Mass, wnere J was with
Postal for a time until an opening occurred at { station WIAG, In those days the commercial
/ ticket was acnepted for broadcasting as the
} operator was required to listen at stated inter- | vals for marine 50S calls. | | After sixteen years at WTAG I moved to WLW
| affiliate WSAI where I remained for about 23
/ years before retiring.
}) With the move from Worcester to Cincinnati
; my ham call changed from WIBNL to W8ZLU which
is still going strong on all bands through ten meters. 738.
i
---Clarence B. Kelley 973-SGP 7204 Clovernook Avenue | Cincinnati, Ohio 45231
!
! RollOuw «
(Relentless Seca “e
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f / ; i / ; j ! | — Communicate |
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sPLYMOUTH
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Fred Pansing
Bl easo. Bill Breniman and my many SOWP friends.
I am going to write you another of my memory stories Similar to the TRI banana boat story you printed in the POC 1975, only this one will be five years earl- ier. The year is 1915. I was sixteen years old, the youngest of a broken quarrelsome family living up town on Washington Heights New York City, now referred to as the suburban getto of Harlem, A senior at Stuyvesant high school and not doing very well. It was a lovely warm October afternoon and I was walking across the BrooklyWBridge. In my left hand was a carefully rolled up first class wireless telegraph license which I had passed an examination for at the Brooklyn Navy Yard at Sands Street, Brooklyn, much to the credit of teaching by Frank Knockel who was a prominent wireless amateur living in the same flat house I did. Yea, my friends, I was far from the proverbial "Bare foot boy with cheeks of tan," a typical big city product.
As I walked across the bridge my eyes settled on the
big United Fruit liners and the sleek black painted Ward Liners. “Some day, I said to myself, I'll be a wireless on one of them." Crossing the bridge and arriving at New York City's hall bark, I de- cided to stroll down to Fulton Street to No. 24 to the Electro Importing Company store and pick up a copy of "Modern Electrics" edited and published by Hugo Grensback. It was about the most uptodate wireless magazine to be had those days. In the window of four panes of glass was displayed a pair of Brandes light weight headphones priced at $13.00 a Murdock variable condenser, several crystal de- tectors and an electoletic detector, a Clapp East- ham rotary spark gap and a two slide loose couplier wound with green silk wire.
A cup of coffee at the Fulton fish market oyster bar and a donut, and I weaved my way across West Street, which was heavily trafficked with horse | drawn trucks. Ducking the West Street horse drawn trolley car, the noise of horses hooves on cobble stones was deafening. Before me a long pier front rose, PIER 14, and in big bold white letters "THE
FALL RIVER LINE," and under this in smaller letters.
"The New England Steamship Co,"
Stepping into the office where I was drawn by the sound of Morse telegraph sounders and relays, I saw a fellow with black curley hair, a green visor, and sleeve protectors on his arms, He was sitting at an old Oliver typewriter with his ear close to a Morse sounder in a sounding box with a Prince Al- bert tobacco can jammed in it to make a certain sounding effect. He was copying a message. When he got finished he came over to me and said, "What can I do for you, young fellow?" He had real dark brown eyes with’a merry twinkle about them. I asked him if I could apply for a wireless operator's position on the Fall River Line boats.
page 4
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BY - RAYMOND J. GREEN
395—SSGP
STEAMBOAT “PLYMOUTH”
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The “Deacon” Meets George Cole
He said, “Oh, yes, but you will have to see George Cole and he is down on the Mohican putting the fin- ishing touches to the wireless set on board.
"Can I just walk down to the boat?" "Sure," he said, and pointed the way. I walked down the long pier jammed with bales of cotton, and more arriving on trucks from the Morgan Line ship at pier 54 up West Street.
I arrived at the cargo ramp, did not see any gang- plank so I stepped aboard, a man with a uniformed cap with "Mate" on it, asked me what I wanted, and I said to talk to Mr. Cole. He thought a moment and said, "You must mean that wireless man", and pointed to a stairway to the upper deck. Once on the top deck I saw a neat four wire antenna running from the smoke stack to the short flag pole on the stern of the steamer. I followed the lead in to the wireless room. soon I was standing before an open door labeled "Wireless Room." A pair of long legs were extending from under the operating table. I said, "Mr. Cole?" "Yes," was the reply. MT would like to speak to you a minute," My heart was pounding.
"Just a minute. A few twists of this lead and I will be finished under here." George Cole pulled himself out from under the table and stood his full
six feet three inches. "Yes," he said, "what is
it?" "YT am looking for a wireless position," I
said. "Have you got a license?" and I handed him my brand new license, He unrolled it, "Ah," he said. "You are a brand new operator, eh?" "Yes,
sir," "Yeah, the ink is hardly dry, and I see Gunner Tucker's USN signature on it." "How much do you know about a wireless set?" "I have been a wireless amateur for five years, a ford spark coil set with a two slide tuner," "Huh, the usual start," said Mr. Cole. "Mr. Frank Knockel taught me all I know." "Oh, you know Frank Knockle?" "Yes," I said. "He is a great friend of Harry Karl the morse operator up on the end of the dock," Here cemented a great and long friendship between Earl, Cole and Knockel and myself.
"You want a job you say?" "Yes, sir, very much." "Can you sail out tonight, say in about four hours for New Bedford, Mass. on this steamer?" I was taken aback and in a trembling voice I said, "Yes, sir." "OK, I'll finish up this transfer of equip- ment and show you how to start and stop it, send and receive. But first come with me," and he took me up to the pilot house and into the Captain's quarters. "Captain Snow here is your wireless operator." Captain Snow turned around and I never saw a sterner face in my life. He had snow white hair and long mutton chop sideburns and the most steeley blue eyes I have ever seen. He eyed me up and down but said nothing. He nodded to Cole and
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said, "Instruct him in what his duties are"and turn- ing to me he said, "We eat at 5 p.m. Be in the mess room and I will-acquaint you with the rest of the officers," and turned away. So my friends, a wireless operator was born that October 1913. I never went back home to live, only to visit. Three meals a day, a dry bunk to sleep in, and thirty dol- lars a month pay, a fine job back in those days.
For the record, my two brothers, ten and twelve years older, worked at the Metropolitan Life for fifty cents an hour, a 48 hour week, They brought home $24 a week, a white collar job. My sister, thirteen years older, worked at Wannamakers from
8 a.m. to 6 p.m., 54 hours a week and earned $14 a week. Oh, well, a big schooner of beer cost 5¢, a good cigar 5¢ with free lunch. 50?
Here suddenly I found myself free of all the gripes. real or imaginary of the typical teenager of any period of living.
Massie Wireless Telegraph Co.
In 1915 the Massie Wireless Telegraph Company being reorganized, emerges as the National Electric Sig- nal Company. Its president, H.M. Kintner of Pitts burgh, John V.L. Hogan, General Manager and Chief Engineer, George E. Cole, personnel, manager of operators, installation and maintenance, offices pier 14, North River.
Stations - 1913
Three coastal stations and fourteen Long Island Sound steamers equipped; WCG located on the roof of Bush termain dock, Brooklyn, in a penthouse, two tall lattice self-supporting towers with extending yard arms at their top. A corner of the penthouse partitioned off was the receiving and operating room with several types of crystal receivers, and one in particular consisting of a variometer in the antenna primary circuit and capacity coupled to the tapped secondary, tuning from 200 meters up to 1000 meters, and long single slide tuning coil to be Switched in for MCC south wellsfleet Mass., WSL Sayville, L.I., or Arlington NAA Virginia. It tuned very sharply, a series of detectors, electro- lytie (whoolston wire, platinum wire coated with Silver and drawn out as thin as a human hair, an inch of this, set screwed in place and micrometer adjusted to dip into a carbon cup with sulfuric acid, the acid eating away the silver leaving a pinpoint of platinum, this with a local battery re- sulted in a very sensitive wireless spark detector. Then there was a perikan detector, iron pyrites and zincon, then silicon, galena, and lastly a sensi-
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THE SPARKS JOURNAL tive piece of carborundum clamped between two brass strips, also operated with a local battery supply. This latter detector was not quite as sensitive as the others but was a favorite account of its stay- ing in adjustment. All of these detectors were on a hard rubber base with suitable switching arrange- ment. The usual antenna send receive switch and typewriter and filing shelves made up the receiving part.Qutside the partitioned portion was the 2 KW synchronous fessenden 500 cycle motor generator and gap mounted on shaft end, compressed air condensers, helix, This all similar to the TRT ship trans- mitters of the time. The operators in charge were Mr. Wallace and Mr. Vosberg.
Now we come to W L C New London, Conn., a 150 foot lattice tower with a slanting four wire antenna. This station was installed with a standard United Wireless 1 KW non synchronous 240 cycle rotary spark gap, the usual green silk covered wire loose coupler receiver I believe known as the type "E", with the usual crystal detector. Brandies light- weight navy headphones, typewriter were all housed in a small shed on pier located on the Thames River. Mr. Black was in charge. Ile worked a long time and finally came up with the most pleasing musical note that made WLC famous up and down the Atlantic coast. It really was outstanding. He was the watch dog of the fleet.
Now we come to the third shore station, WCI Fall River, Mass, This installation was a % set Similar to those on the sound steamers including the receiver. The operator in charge was named Nick Carter. After a long night watch he was the one you closed down with--and then turned in after clearing the 'hook.'
The “K X” Boats
There was a fleet of thirteen or fourteen sound steamers whose call letters all began with "K X," The last letter of the call used the first letter of the steamer where possible. The equipment was all the same and easily interchangeable by Mr. Cole which was quite often and on short notice. The transmitters were 4% kw mounted on a two, possibly three, foot square panel with four copper clad ly- den jars and usual helix and transformer on the back. Two, three inch insulators supported the spark gap which was unusual for a special reason: This gap consisted of an insulating tube of mica on which was mounted ten aluminum disks three inches in diameter and one eighth inch thick, separated by one sixteenth inch mica washers one inch in diam- eter. (This is not to be confused with the then existing Telefunken quenched gap.) On the end of this supporting mica tube was a ratchet and a pro- truding keeper-shaft which turned the entire as-
— mi ‘ N Sadan ~_ gp FAL OVER “EE
She Sound sheideséi PRISCILLA
Built in 1893 at the cost of $1,500,000 she was queen of the Fall River Line's Long Island Sound run. An institution, she served 44 years. Red plush carpets and other luxuries made her one of the best known and loved overnight boats on the Sound,
Page 5
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STORIES THE PIONEERS TE | Ut Srv SZ) HU
sembly each time you operated the send receive switch one quarter inch--this to keep it burning evenly. the purpose of this arrangement was quiet- ness of operation. In operation it emitted a sort of tea kettle sizzling sound quite softly, but it did emit considerable ozone and power.
The power plant was a small quiet rumning motor gen- erator, and an emergency twelve volt dynamotor, all neatly mounted in a black box with insulating cover. It operated by means of the usual large snap toggle switches and even had a pilot light to remind you it was on. The reason for all this quiet opera- tion was because most of the wireless rooms were located in line between the passenger cabins or staterooms, so quietness was essential. The re- ceiver was the new capacity coupled variometer in series with the antenna and ground it had three dials, three inches in diameter. It was a neat looking set with four large brass binding posts marked AG Det. On a hard rubber base was mounted two detectors, silicon and carborundun, The vari- meter was Clapp Eastham, condensers were all made by Murdock and the two pair of headphones were Brandies regular type 2000 ohms, This receiver was supplemented by an external single slide tuning coil for long wave lengths and the Arlington time- tick (seldom asked for}. The regular wavelength range was from 200 meters to 1000 meters and it worked very well. I think they were made down at the Bush Terminal station by Mr. Hogan and Mr, Cole and associates.
The “Sound” Steamers
Here are the sound steamers. (Where two are to- gether they run opposite each other.)
Commonwealth and Priscilla
New York to Newport and Fall River Plymouth and Providence
New York to Providence, R.I. Maine and New Hampshire
New York to New Bedford, Mass. City of Lowell and Chester W Chapin
New York to New London, Conn. Richard Peck
New York to Bridgeport and New Haven Concord and Lexington (Colonial Line)
New York to Providence, R.I. Mohican and Peqonnic freighters
New York to all places.
The Antennas on all the steamers were rigged from the smoke stack to the after flag staff and were
of the four wire variety. That is my recollection of many years ago. I will try to tell of the op- erating procedures in the following paragraphs and of the daily trips of this fleet--adding my com- ments on wireless communication as it existed at that time.
Biue Peter Flies
A good supper at 5 p.m., across West Street for evening New York Journal, dodging thousands of com- muters headed for Cortland Street Ferry and New Jer- sey R.R. 5o on a clear evening we pull out from Pier 14. spin around and head down the IHludson River, around the battery. transmitter to 750 meters, Listen, all is quiet. You call WCG; a quick reply and you send your de- parture time, received from the pilot house, ac- knowledged. It is hard here to level with a mod- ern radio man. Imagine it as I remember it. No loud speakers, no amplifiers, no regeration squeal, no phones or voices, sitting on GOO meters you hear Seagate. (Believe Davie Sarnoff at key then.) That's Coney Island, working the steamer MONROE of the Old Dominion line, DF with Jack Duffey at key, and now and then "NAH" (Brooklyn Navy Yard) booms in with a "Get off, and stay off." He was the boss around NYC in those days. the Battery and glides up the East River, under the
u ow
You set the pump handle on the
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Brooklyn Bridge. You make the curious observation that the spark signal from a ship off the Jersey coast would build way up, then drop out for a few seconds and suddenly return and fade down again.
Up the river under the Manhattan Bridge, Blackwells Island and the big train bridge and Hell Gate and on to Execution Light. Again you call WCG and re- port passing it as received from the pilot. If you are the last steamer, WCG ok's with a GN and closes down until 5 a.m. in the morning to greet the east bound fleet. The strip of travel from Pier 14 to Execution Light was considered highly accident prone.
Once out in Long Island Sound, you would take a little stroll down the beautiful carpeted and light- ed corridors, grand staircase, and public rooms filled with finely dressed men and women. Or you would sit in your wireless room with the headphones half on (one ear) and hear some sweet thing say to her boy friend, "What is that?" and he reply, "Oh, that is that new fandangled wireless stuff you hear so much about these days!"
All this activity was also going on down at the east end of the sound, WCI Fall River, was collecting the departure times from the New Bedford, Providence and even New London. He also closed down after the last steamer passed Point Judith to greet you in’ the morning. Thus the full fleet is underway about seven large steamers both ways or fourteen in all.
Around midnight we all would be in the vicinity: of New London, Conn., and WLC musical note would check and record our time passing him from position re- ports furnished by the pilots. On a clear night you could see the lights of Long Island and Conn. and all the steamers ablaze with light--truly a beautiful sight. This was a routine activity six nights a week (no sailings on Sunday). Promptly at 8 p.m. you tuned to 800 meters and copied 0 H X sending press, which was the New York Herald sta- tion, owned by Gordon Bennett, Located on the Staten Island Ferry Building, Battery Park, N.Y.C. (Fine practice with a pencil at 25 W.P.M.)
All this routine was on a fair weather night and was subject to various disruptions caused by weather conditions or ice, pea soup fog, poor visibility which whipped things into a frenzy at times and put everybody on nerve's edge, as there was very little elbow room, and to lose your vision and rely on whistles, bells, flashes of light, and wireless to tap your way along was really something. I re- member the early mornings when all seven steamers were strung out from Execution Light to way down the East River inching along in practically zero visibility. All this sounds stuffy and old fash- ioned, but back then it was really exciting if not nerve-wracking! There sure was a lot of traffic on Long Island Sound and very few accidents over the 100 years of marine operation. All is quiet now, gone with the wind and fog, as they say, four lane super highway from NYC to Boston and diesel trucks rule the day, the New York Hartford RR (bank- rupt in 1955) and the selling of the Lovely Common- wealth, Providence, Plymouth and Priscilla in 1958 for scrap put an end to the era, Once again Long Island Sound is for pleasure boats.
The “Lingo” was “Ships”
The lingo on the Fall River Line was steamer not ship. It was right or left, not port and star- board. Up and down not above and below, front and back, about the only deep sea thing around was the green and red running lights. There were no ports but windows with sashes and curtains on rods. The paddle wheels could be operated separately, from each other, with one slow forward and the other Slow aft or astern, these steamers could turn in a pinwheel fashion, to watch a steamer back out of pier 14, pose a second, then turn on its center beam, was really something, compared with all the noise and fuss and tugs puffing to get the big Cunarders and French line ships out of dock and on
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their way. The Mates were concerned, mostly with bales of cotton, and immigrant care. A square was made for the many immigrants arriving from Europe and on their way to the New England cotton mills, This all has changed and the mills have moved to the south where they grow the cotton.
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Yes, the sound steamers were a cozy back door entry for many early wireless operators. Each ship car- ried three pilots~-one of whom was an apprentice. They took the steamers down the sound from light house to buoy, no navigation as at sea, the quarter- master was called wheelsman. The food was excel- lent at all times. Many of the crew were in their late 60's or middle 70's--sailors from the tall clipper ship days of the Australian grain trade. Captain Albert Snow was a famous record setter in his day, many of the young men were the sons of these old sailors of a previous generation. it is surprising how little of the deep sea talk was heard--the only visible traits were the fancy rope and twine work they did. After all, the only rough sea we ever had was a short strip as you rounded Point Judith. Here in a down east storm you felt a little trouble between Block Island, Narraganset Bay, the New Bedford boats hard going some times. Another thing to remember--we did our sailing from dusk to dawn, vou were at dock side during the day and Sundays. I used to sunshine on pier 14 telegraph office for Harry Farl, contrast- ing to moonshining of today. Not many years pass- ed before this Horatio Alger got deep sea fever-- what a surprise and shock but that's another story.
“Flash Back”
As I remember in the year of 1912 a big wireless meeting was hel’ at Pern. Switzerland. All the large countries were represented. There they thrashed out frequency control. call letter as- Signments, to the various countries. thus: [F- France, I-Italy, G-Great Britain. etc... as we know it today. The word Radio emerged and by 1915 the examining of operators, lLicensening of stations. assignment of call letters, etc... moved from the Navy Department to the Department of Commerce with offices in the Custom House at Battery Park, NYC. Major Krumm was in charge, Harry Sadenwater. and others. Mr, Cadmus at Baltimore, holster at New Orleans and later transferring to various cities of the West Coast and Great Lakes. later of Boston, My fiest license was taken at the Navy Yard. but the second had the names William C. Redfield, Sec, of Commerce, FE. T. Chamberlain. Commissioner of Navigation and examining officer was Harry Saden- water. They were valid for two years only and if you failed to show a sea endorsement for six months period of the two years. you had to be reexamined. The days of "Certificate of Skill" were over. Terms such as C-W were unheard of; it was Al, A2, AS emissions. The audion had not been invented till later when De Forest put the grid in between the filament and plate of the Fleming Valve.
There were no loud speakers. In fact the captains and others soon let you know that you were off watch when you did not have the head phones on your ears by the snide remakr, "Who's on watch"--espec- ially the hard looks from the captains. The term Radio Shack not yet heard--it was "wireless office" or room. Ham not yet. it was Amateur Wireless. "Sparks" not yet--it was Mr. Marconi or just Mar- coni. The Gold Sparks had not shown up yet. 1 had "Wireless" in the gold wreath of my uniform cap; some wore Marconi but no Radio Officer yet.
One of the nice things about those days was that you were brand new. There were no old timers standing around sneering at your operations and abilities, As simple as it seems now. then no- body knew anything about it, Captain Snow used to stop in front of my wireless room door, not at my "good evening", pause then slowly stroll down the corridor, his hands folded behind his back and shaking his head,
The “Posh” SS Commonwealth
The morning after my first round trip to New Bed- ford, about eleven a.m., there was a knock on my Wireless room door, "Hello, Ray," says Louis Bear, a sandy-haired hunchbacked fellow with a marvelous sense of humor and wit. "Well. you made it but your sending sure sounded wobbly those first re- ports, Oh, well, ,it's all over now, Hey, come on over and let me give you the tour of the pride of the Fall River Line steamers," 5o we crossed the pier to the S.S. COMMONWEALTH. Gosh. what a
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THE SPARKS JOURNAI
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sight as I stepped from the canopied plush red car- peted companionway--everything was ablaze with lights. Louis said. "The Mayor of NYC is going
to throw a big Tammany Hall political dinner to- day." The first thing that caught my attention was the sweeping and beautiful mahogany staircase that swept up to the corridors of state rooms and her many saloons. Louis got out a post card with a picture of the ship on one side and on the other in fine print a description and started reading as we went along. It said she appeared on the sound around 1908 and cost two million dollars and she was 456 feet long. Her grand saloon was Venetian Gothic. I was too young to know then that her dining room was in Louis XVI. (Seems I heard about him in my history books.) The cafe was in 16th century Italian but the grandest room of all was her main dining room under three big domes and all glass on the outside. As a poor boy I sure was stunned and even to this day I can't tell you how beautiful it all was. A dance hall and grill in Spanish style. everywhere soft rugs, large roomy chairs and beautiful lamps and lighting effect. and we came to the wireless OFFICE mind you, it was a half door arrangement--the top half swung in along the wall, the lower half became a sort of writing desk. The combination office stateroom measured about eight by ten. On the far end was a mahogany bunk arrangement with four drawers and a clothes locker. When the bunk was made up it had two vel- vet curtains that tied back on rods displaying a snow white made up bed and generous pillow and a cream colored blanket. Talk about comfort! Sure better than anything I ever had at home, Along the side of the wall was the operating table with the gear on it. Louis about ran out reading that post card story and said he had to refer to it be- cause he did not know the names of all those beaut- iful rooms. I was to make a few trips on the S.S. COMMONWEALTH as relief when Louis had a sick spell.
It is surprising how routine things got to be. Rounding the Battery, thence under the East River bridges through Hell Gate to Execution Light and on out into the sound, Many nights when the weather was clear I would go down to the cargo deck where the bales of cotton were so arranged in a clear square to make a bed on, There would be fifty to
a hundred immigrants fresh from Fllis Island and Europe, rathers, skilled weavers and leather work- ers, mostly from the Polish Corridor bound for their new country and jobs in the New England cotton mills and the Boston shoe factories, Each had his name and number of his family tied to his lapel and where he was headed, The women and children gathered to- eecther. They were comfortable bedded down with their own bedding. It was warm and plenty of good food served, cooked and made by themselves. We were all very kind to them, There were lots of bread, milk and cheese; good toilet facilities: may- be some of them are still alive and will remember. None spoke English.
Parallel to the speaking tube from the pilot house there ran a pair of announciator bell wires than rang a call bell. In addition to the tea kettle whistle on the speaking tube. I soon contrived it so that by connecting my receiver phone posts to
one end I could go up to the pilot house and con- nect my phones and stand watch. Signals were just a little down but on 600 meters I sat in the dark back of the pilot house and listened to many stories and the pilot lingo on clear nights at certain hours because on a foggy night you sat close to your set, As I have said before, when you removed your head phones you might as well be ashore or in your bunk asleep. The entire range of the wireless was not normally more than fifty to one hundred miles. I used to listen to the transatlantic liners working Siaconset and Seagate and the coastwise steamers
and the flect at New Port. all on a crystal de- tector,
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FURNISHED BY OUR LATE MEMBER, CAPT. EDWARD N. DINGLEY, JR USNR/RET.
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A Memorable Occasion
One week end Mr. Cole sent me down to the Bush Ter- minal penthouse station with instructions to stop at the restaurant up on 36th and 4th Avenue and pick up two good sized baskets of food. I would have to make two round-trips, five long blocks and eleven flights of stairs, arriving with the second load, Mr. Cole, Wallace, and Vosberg were prepar- ing luncheon, setting improvised tables. I was to be the waiter and handy errand boy. They all were much older than I. Soon the guests arrived and I am going to write down their names for posterity. They were all pioneers of wireless--Ellery W. Stone, Fessenden, Nickla Tesla, Professor Pupin, Professor Goldsmith, Admiral Bullard, Greenleaf Pickard, Pierce, J.V.L. Hogan, Kintner, Alexanderson, and others, No deForest or Armstrong as I remember. After the greetings and welcoming, they settled down to serious talking and setting up some kind of organization. I have often wondered if it was the
Engineers or I.R.E, Anyone recall?
Prelude to History
These were the days before four lane super highways and diesel trucks and there were several flourish- ing coastwise steamship lines. Two Canadian boats. The STEPHANO sunk by German U-53 submarine off the Newfoundland coast. Then there was the S.S. NORTH- LAND and S.S. NORTHSTAR. (Portland to NYC out side run). The “Bunkerhill" and "Massachusetts" (Buz- zards Bay Boston to NYC). The Old Dominion line with the S.5. MONROE and sister ship. The merchant miners line out of Providence and such ships as the 5.5. DORCHESTER, NARRAGANSETTE, etc. The Clyde Line, the Mallory Line, the Morgan Line with a big fleet coastwising. The Red "D" Line with the Car- acus and Maricabo. The Ward Line with its fleet, then the Intercoastal Line, the Luckenback Line and the American Hawaiian. These were all jobs for early wireless men. I sailed on many of these ships. There were two fast ships built by Jim Hill of Great Northern Railroad fame that were to run from Portland, Me., to NYC but were sent to the Eng- lish Channel to transport troops in WW1, They ended up on the California SFO La run, the Yale and Harvard. Jack Duffey, George Cole and Vogal were the men I contacted for assignments.
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Epilogue of a “Vanishing American”
If ever there was a cosier, safer, more comfortable steamship line than the "Old Fall River Line, I've never heard of it. It was the birth and starting point of many of the SWP Spark-Gap Pioneers on the Fast Coast. Most of the things you mention in your "Strange World of Sparks" article (SPARKS-II), were not met up with until as a fledgling I left the nest of Long Island Sound from the paddle wheel sound to the screw propeller vibrations. Don't find too much fault with my memories. After all Pier 14 is gone, across street stands the two trade-center sky- scrapers. I hear a strong coffer dam is to be built from Whitehall Street all the way up to 79th Street, connecting all those long piers extending out into the Hudson. Fill it all in and a beauti- ful park along the west side of Manhattan for its teeming millions. And the old Brooklyn Bridge is resplendent with its new coast of aluminum paint.
I have lived long enough to see worldwide fleets of ships built, used, scrapped and sunk. And the beautiful Transatlantic liner UNITED STATES decay- ing at her dock at Hampton Roads, Virginia, and the last beautiful liner the FRANCE retiring from the service. A post card from my XYL, "Gently took off Kennedy Airport at 7 p.m. in a 747 Jumbo jet with 308 passengers and crew and just as gently let down at Orly Field, Paris, at midnight, a most en- joyable trip. Yes, there is a 'Communication's Officer.'"
Guess it's time to bid my SWP friends 73. Greet- ings and Hail to the "Communications Officers" of the Boeing 747's Jumbo Jet.
Horatio Alger, you have grown old. THE VANISHING AMERICAN MARCONI WIRELESS TELEGRAPH
OPERATOR RAY GREEN
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REAR ADMIRAL ELLERY W. STONE, VICE-CHAIRMAN CF THE BOARD, I.T.T. CO,
A FACTUAL STORY BASED ON RECORDS
BY—FRED ROSEBURY
Maybe he didn't plan his future: Admiral Ellery W. Stone thinks his career was largely due to a "series of freak happenings," as he says, yet it looks: very much as though the working rule of his life had something to do with ; it: "DO MORE THAN ANYONE HAS A RIGHT TO EXPECT OF YOU: IF YOU ONLY DO WHAT IS EXPECTED, YOU ARE ONLY AVERAGE."
S.S. QUEEN LAUNCHES CAREER
Ellery started as a ham in 1908 or 1909 when he was a high-school student. In 1910, when he was sixteen, he tuned in one day to the 600-meter band and to his surprise he heard a distress call (CQD or SOS) from a coasting vessel, the SS Queen, bound for Eureka. As there was no response from any- where, after a few minutes, he went to the phone and called the San Fran- cisco maritime station "PH" (mow KPH) and then the U.S. Coast Guard. ee he phoned the Oakland TRIBUNE to find out what happened, if anything. learned that the ship had been rescued by the Coast Guard and all ee were safe. The editor wanted to know who was calling; when Ellery told him it was he who had notified "PH" and the Coast Guard, the editor asked him to stop in on his way to school next morning to be interviewed and to have his picture taken.
The Early Days
His first transmitter was a 1/2-kw spark which he built in his home at 317 Lee Street, Oakland, just north of Lake Merritt. The high-voltage trans- former, wound by himself--the "pig" as he called it, had its secondary in- sulated with melted paraffin. The condenser was built up out of Belgian plate glass with tinfoil sheets cemented to the glass with white of egg.
For the receiver, his first detector was carbon and needle, from which he went by stages to various types of electrolytic devices, then carborundum. Some of these required a loca] battery. This was followed by silicon, gal- ena, and at last a De Forest “Audion,” a gassy “soft" tube, invented only a few years earlier, a tube that would go blue if the B-battery was more than 45 volts. He found a temperamental glassblower, specializing in the repair of x-ray tubes, who repumped his Audion down too hard.
Since there was no amplification beyond the detector stage, a thermionic tube had its greatest sensitivity just short of this blue ionization point. | Ellery and a ham friend, Palmer Hewlett, who lived on a farm at Hollister, California, found that when the tube was warm it became more sensitive. They figured the heat was driving occluded gases out of the tube elements and the glass walls, thus reducing the degree of high vacuum. They mounted
the Audion head downward in a glass beaker of oil under which they had a spirit lamp with an adjustable flame.
By controlling the temperature of
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a Sd Ed EE 2 WA IwARTA® % The honorarium of "HONORARY MEMBERSHIP" (#12) has 74 been conferred upon Rear Admiral Ellery W. Stone by | wa the Society of Wireless Pioneers, Inc., for the re- ie BY markable achievements he has brought to the world 4 44 through a lifetime of preeminent leadership in many }§ wg fields, including military, civil government, and ae B bUSINEeSS. « #@ He has authored books, especially one on the funda- B® aw mentals of wireless that was outstanding in its Pe Y, field and used as text in early years by those inter < @ ested in communications. He served with distinct- B& NW ion in a most difficult position as Chief of the Pv "4 Allied Commission for Italy after World War II and < a has received the highest awards of many Nations. me Admiral Stone was sponsored by Eben K, Cady, Past yy, 5 President of the Society. 4 a ; _ = m the oil precisely they were able to get maximum sensitivity. They also
found they could "soup it up" still further with a U-shaped magnet from a discarded car magneto. In exactly the right position this magnet deflected the electron stream between the filament, grid and plate, to obtain an ab- solute and critical maximum of efficiency, so necessary for DX reception without amplifiers.
Today, we are so accustomed to the use of superheterodyne and multistage amplifier circuits that it is hard to conceive of getting along without them, and it is really amazing what sort of long-distance communication Ellery Stone and his fellow hams were able to achieve in the early days.
When Ellery was seventeen he designed a rotary quenched gap which Haller Cunningham on Lower Market Street in San Francisco made up for him. He
Found that he could get a Poulsen-are effect by dripping alcohol on the
sealed-in spark gap!
C4 Station licenses for hams were of course not required in those days, and e4 not for any shore stations either, except those like "CH" or "PH" which
worked ships. The wavelength of his rig was probably in the neighborhood of 700 meters (no one used kc. then except a few people in the Navy and the Bureau of Standards). His call "LK" he says, “had a mice rhythm, and still has."
In 1913, Ellery was admitted to the Bay Counties Wireless Telegraph Assoc- iation of California. The secretary, L.M. Clement, gave him the theory and code tests at Clement's ham station - tests which were far more diffi- cult than the First Grade Operator's exam Ellery himself gave later to as- piring ship operators. But he passed it with flying colors; it gave him the privilege of having an "S" call: that is, his call became "SLK" which had an enhanced rhythm.
The First Job
The US Ship Act went into effect in 1910 and cllery got a Limited Commer- cial station license for his ham outfit, and a Commercial Operator's li- cense for himself, December 13, 1912. R.B. Woolverton became the Radio Inspector in the San Francisco area, as did W.D. Terrell in New York. The Radio Division, then under the U.S. Department of Commerce, was almost im- mediately inundated with a large number of applications for operator and station licenses because of the Act, for ship, maritime shore stations and hams. Finding himself unable to handle this flood of paperwork, Woolver- ton got permission to hire an assistant for thirty days. This was in early 1912. Ellery, then a student at the University of California, ob-
tained leave from his classes and was taken on as a paid employee, conduc- ting operator exams for ship billets. signed the tickets of the successful candidates. that month, his first paid job!
Woolverton, as Radio Inspector, Ellery received $80 for
Colonel Mario Infante, R.I.A.F. and Ellery Stone in the New York marine control room of Mackay Radio and Telegraph Company in July, 1933, while monitoring the flight communications of the Balbo seaplane expedition that month.
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Covering theWater-Front
In 1914, Ellery Stone was appointed Assistant Radio Inspector, with a ~ starting salary of $100 a month. This was raised to $110 in 1915, and to $120 in 1916. As assistant radio inspector, he did all the inspection work aboard ships and in shore stations. He boarded every wireless- equipped ship which came into San Francisco harbor, sometimes lugging up- wards of 40 pounds of test equipment: wavemeters, antenna ammeters, decre- meters, etc. He gave exams to ship and shore-station operators and hams, and was authorized to issue licenses over his own signature. He tested all ship transmitters to measure their antenna current and their logarith- mic decrement, and tested the signal strength by working with shore sta- tions at various points. All shipboard emergency equipment was required to have a range of at least 100 miles in daylight on 600 meters, so Ellery took a trip on a lumber schooner to and from Eureka (225 miles) to test the transmitter with KPH and the Eureka station. Subsequently he went on an overnight run of the SS Yale which made daily trips between San Franci- sco and San Pedro. His personal call or sign in those days was "RI" for Radio Inspector.
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There can be no question that, if nothing else, these trips as Assistant Radio Inspector eminently qualify Admiral] Stone for the Senior Spark Gap Pioneer rating in the 5.W.0.P., to say nothing of his previous and later illustrious accomplishments.
World War One
On March 16, 1917, when Ellery was only 23, he was commissioned a Lieuten- ant (j.g.) in the U.S. Naval Reserve by Captain E.H. Dodd, U.S.N., the Pac- ific Coast Communications Superintendent (PCCS) at "Goat Hill," and order- ed to active duty at NPL, San Diego, on April 6, 1917, which was the day the United States entered World War I. Within two months he was made Dis- trict Communications Superintendent (DCS) of what is now the 11th Naval District (then the southern half of the old 12th Naval District), and Of- ficer-in-Charge, U.S. Naval Radio Station, San Diego. The transmitter, a 200-kw Federal arc at Chollas Heights,was operated by Guoner H.L. Rodman under Lt. Stone; the receiving station was at Point Loma where Ellery had his office and later, a house. He served there until 1919.
Scores in business field.
When Ellery was first released from active duty in 1919, he became Califor- nia manager for the well-known firm of Kilbourne & Clark of Seattle, who supplied and maintained radio equipment and provided operators for one- third of the United States Shipping Board ships built during Ww-I.
In the early days when Ellery had his own station. he was able to send 40 W.p.m. with a bug, and to copy at least 35. He also used a side-swipe key which gave operators a chance to express their own personalities a little more than with a bug. There is no doubt in the minds of many old-time op- erators that there is definitely a kind of musical rhythm in the Morse code which experts like Ellery Stone were able to demonstrate. To quote him, "I always felt the mechanical perfection of a bug has more eleqance than warmth or heart." On his ham rig Ellery always copied on a mill from the beginning of 1913, when he bought the machine which he afterwards also used for his college papers.
After his service with Kilbourne & Clark, he became General Manager of the Moorhead Laboratories and of Lee De Forest, Inc. of San Francisco, and in 1922 he became manager of the Radio Department of the Pacific States Elec- tric Company, a General Electric subsidiary on the Pacific Coast. In 1924, ‘at the age of 30, Ellery Stone was named President of Federal Telegraph Company of California and came to the International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation when Federal Telegraph was acquired by ITT in 1931. Subsequen- tly he held various executive positions in the ITT system. Among them were: Executive Vice President, Mackay Radio & Telegraph Company; President Postal Telegraph-Cable Co. until its merger with Western Union Telegraph Co. in 1943; ITT Regional Vice President for the Middle East in Cairo, 1947-1948; President, Federal Telephone & Radio Corporation, 1948-1949; President, American Cable & Radio Corporation, and subsidiaries, 1950-1958; ITT Group Vice President of Defense Activities, 1959-1961; and President, ITT Europe, Inc. at Brussels, 1961-1965. At the time of his retirement in June 1969 after completing 45 years of service in the ITT system, he was a Vice President of ITT, Chairman of the Board of American Cable & Radio Cor- poration, Vice Chairman of the Board of ITT Europe (Brussels), and Director of various American and European ITT subsidiaries. He was a Director of ITT from 1948 to 1968.
The “Crociera Transatlantica” Operation
The "Crociera Transatlantica" Operation. In 1933, twenty-five Italian sea- planes of the Savoia-Marchetti S 55 X type under the command of General Italo Balbo, the Italian Air Minister, made a transatlantic flight from Rome to Chicago and return by way of Amsterdam, Londonderry, Reykjavik, Labrador, Nova Scotia, Montreal, New York, the Azores, Lisbon, and back
to Rome. Each 114-ton flying boat was powered by two &80-horsepower Isotta Fraschini 12-cylinder engines, and had a crew of four (in some cases, five) members of the Royal Italian Air Force.
“llery Stone, then a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve and \ice President and Director of the Postal Telegraph-Cable Company, was se- lected by the late Mr. Hernand Behn, President of ITT (of which Postal was a subsidiary), to organize a widespread and comprehensive radio, cable and telegraph network in cooperation with ITT, the Italian government, and the military and civil authorities of the various nations which provided land- ing sites, repair and refueling facilities, and weather data for, and over whose air space the squadron was to fly. At the time, regular commercial communications were at best only seasonal and sporadic at certain places along the flight route, while at others there existed no communication fac- ilities of any kind.
Plans were evolved under the direction of Lieut-Commander Stone for provid- ing and assuring reliable, round-the-clock two-way radio contact with the squadron, also fast and accurate weather reports over 4 wide area includinc those from ships at sea, These reports were to be transmitted to the U.S. Weather Bureau at New York for accurate forecasting by Dr. James Kimball, a foremost authority in transatlantic Flight meterology. These forecasts were then to be transmitted periodically on frequent schedules to General Balbo in the flagship. The Mackay (New York Area) radio station WSL was to be in continuous contact with the squadron throughout the expedition. Various other fixed stations were involved in the flight communications, for which purpose a thorough pre-flight study was prepared with regard to atmospheric, magnetic, and electrical conditions at all hours of the day and night over the entire route, to determine optimum radio contact.
The huge seaplanes took off from Orbetello, north of Rome, on the morning of July 1, 1933, for the United States; and on the return landed at Ostia, west of Rome, shortly after noon on August 12, after covering in mass for- mation a flight of 12,000 miles, the most remarkable feat in the history of aviation up to that time.
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THE SPARKS JOURNAL
It is of interest to note that a commercial oryanization was able to pro- Vide perfect communications in the execution of a problem which was han- dled and directed by Ellery’ Stone and his staff, most of whom were Naval Reservists or had other military service, and that this was organized and executed as a military task. The mobilization of all the communications operations was handled smoothly and efficiently without in any way affec- ting the Company's normal commercial traffic.
Naval Career of Admiral Stone
Admiral Stone's naval career began in 1917, and he advanced through grades in the Naval Reserve to Rear Admiral in 1944. As a Captain in 1943 he served as Chief of Staff to Vice Admiral Willism Glassford, U.S.N., head of the American Mission at Dakar, French West Africa. In 1943, immediate- ly following the Italian surrender, he was appointed a member of the Al- lied Military Mission to the Italian government at Brindisi, and was sp- pointed by the Allied Combined Chiefs of Staff as Chief Commissioner of the Allied Control Commission in Rome and Chief Civil Affairs Officer of Allied Military Government in Italy from 1944 until 1947.
Ellery Stone was decorated with both the Navy and the Army Distinguished Service Medals. He was the only reserve officer in either service in WW-II to receive both. We was also awarded the highest Italian decoratior and to top all that off, he was "knighted" by George VI at Buckingham Palace where he received the K.B8.E. (Knight Commander of the British Em- pire). If he were a British subject his title would be "Rear Admiral] Sir Ellery Stone," and his wife would be "Lady Stone.” Be that as it may, Admiral Stone today indicated that he considers it a still greater honor to be 8 member of the Society of Wireless Pioneers as a Senior Spark-Gap Pioneer! And the Society is more than honored to have him as a member. \
Chosen Chief Commissioner Allied Military Government of Italv following surrender
He was chosen by General tiasenhower's stalt in Algiers to go into italy to take over the civil communications as soon as Italy surrendered in 1945, Ellery's chief at the time was a three-star British General, Mason Mac- Farlane, who took a liking to him, and with the approval of the Combined Chiefs, made him his deputy. When General MacFarlane was invalided home, Harold Macmillan, later Prime Minister, and Field Marshal Alexander, who relieved General Eisenhower when the latter took over the Normandy inva- sion, asked Ellery if he would assume the job of Chief Commissioner of the Allied Military Government of Italy (a country of 47 million people):
"Do you think you could take it on for us?" Ellery remembers Macmillan ask ing him,
And Ellery replied at once, "Of course, sir." He was only a Captain then but they were sure he would be made an Admiral. He was - after a delay of six months. The Navy had to jump him over 600 regular captains to do it!
All in all, the only job he ever went after was that of Assistant Radio Inspector in the old days.
"Isn't it strange," he says; “every other job came to me out of the blue by a series of freak happenings that long ago convinced me mot to try to plan my Future. The Lord was taking care of me beyond anything I could ever dream of."
Admiral Stone feels that his reason for wanting to be a member of our So- ciety (should he need a reason!) is that all the foundations of his later career were based on the dreams and ambitions he had as a boy - dreams and ambitions which have come flooding back to show that everything he ever did was to prepare him for his two great roles in the communications art and in the Navy.
(CONTINUED TO PAGE 28)
Ellery Stone has just been awarded the Commander of the British Empire de- coration by Admiral Sir John Cunningham, R.N. Ellery's right hand is slightly blurred from returning the salute of the Royal Marine Guard of Honor just after the medal had been hung around his neck. When he was la- ter "knighted" by King George VI, he received the same neck decoration and a plaque or star which is worn on the left breast. The men in the back- ground are American and British officers, headed by General Matt Ridgway, U.S.A. and Rear Admiral Jules James, U.5.N, The villa or palazzo was form erly owned (c. 1790-1810) by Sir William and Lady Emma Hamilton, whom Ad- miral Lord Horatio Nelson used to visit there. ~ CONTINUED - NEXT PAGE
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TE KFS =LETION
(COMTIMUED FROM PAGE 1()
ADMIRAL ELLERY W. STONE
Honors & Decorations
In addition to the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Army D.S.M, and the British K.8.E., Admiral Stone has the following decorations: Grand Cross of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus and Grand Officer, Crown of Italy; Grand Cross of San Marino; Cross of Merit, First Class with Crown, Knights of Malta; Of- Ficer, Légion d'Honneur (France); Commander, Order of Leopold II (Belgium, Commander, First Grade, Order of Isabella The Catholic (Spain); and the Campaign Medals of World Wars | and Il. He is Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Society for French-American Cultural Services and Educ- ational Aid, New York.
Admiral Ellery W. Stone is a Fellow of the 1.£.€.£.., and of the Royal So- clety of Arts (England), and a member of the U.S. Naval Institute. He is the author of technical papers in the Proceedings of the I.R.E. and the I.E.E.E., and the U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, and of a book: "Ele- ments of Radio Communication," which has gone into three editions, the latest, 1926, published by D. Van Nostrand & Company, New York. The first edition of this book grew out of a series of blueprinted lectures (there were no Xerox machines in those days) which Admiral Stone (then a lieuten- ant) gave in 1917 and 1918 to aspiring Navy radiomen at NPL.
He retired from the Navy in 1958, after 41 years of naval service.
* *+ * @£ 6€
Material for parts of this artic!e has been taken (with the Admiral's per- mission) from his paper "Communications for Italian Transatlantic Flight," Proc. U.S. Naval Inst., 60, No. 378 (August, 1934), pp. 1121-1136; and from “International Communications - Past and Future," a talk given by the Admiral before the New York Chapter of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, November 30, 1960.
--Fred Rosebury
—_Z}-—_
Amos Emerson Dolbear
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1837 i910
BY PROFESSOR HERBERT J. SCOTT
Professor Amos Dolbear - did he invent and demonstrate a system of wire- less, even before the famous experiments of Hertz? Let us see what the musty and yellowed pages of history can tell us about this man.
Amos Emerson Dolbear was born in Norwich, Connecticut on the 10th day of November in 1837. His parents died when he was very young, whereupon friends of the family raised him on a farm in New Hampshire.
Later, in desire of an education, he entered Dhio Wesleyan University. Following this he studied mining engineering at Michigan University from which he earned the degrees of A.M. and M.E. in 1867 and the Ph.D. degree in 1873.
After attaining his doctorate from Michigan he taught for a short time at a small university, and then later was appointed Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Tufts College in Massachusetts in 1874.
Dolbear was a man with an exceptionally inventive turn of mind. In 1853 he invented what our children use as a toy today - the string telephone. In 1864 he devised the "Electric Writing Telegraph". This he described some years later in the "Journal of the Telegraph" in 1880. His model
was submitted to the Western Union Telegraph Company who assured him that there was no future in it. Yet soon after this it was modified by Gray to produce what he (Gray) called a "Telautograph" for Western Union.
It was in 1864 that Dolbear invented what he called a “Talking Machine" which, in principle, was the same as what later became known as the Gell Telephone, and which unfortunately Dolbear put aside until 1876. It con- sisted of a straight, permanent, bar magnet with a winding of wire around
| it and a very thin sheet iron disc near the end of it. This winding was
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. THE SPARKS JOURNAI
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_ connected through wires to a similar winding on an identical unit, no bat-
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teries of any kind being used. The device was used to both talk into and listen with - essentially what we today call a ‘sound powered' telephone! This device he unfortunately neglected to patent!
Bell's telephone exhibited in Philadelphia in 1876 employed an electromag- net and required a battery for its operation; otherwise it was very like Dolbear's device in operation. Following a long and bitter court fight, Bell was named by the court as the true inventor.
Then in 1679 Dolbear invented his "Static Telephone" very much like our present day condenser microphone and receiver. Bell sued him on this score and the Supreme Court said Dolbear was an infringer in-as-much as Bell had patented a “new principle" rather than a "new device".
Later Dolbear discovered that the static telephone that he devised could be heard in @ receiver even when the transmitter and receiver were not physi- cally connected. The waves from the transmitter could be heard fifty feet away in all directions from the transmitter by as many people as could be provided with receivers with which to listen in. He applied for a patent on this system in 1882, but the Patent Office turned him down on the basis that his device was “contrary to science and would not work". This despite the fact that Dolbear had read a paper on 23 March 1882 in London before the ‘Society of Telegraph and Electricians’ describing the "Development of a New Telephonic System" and provided his audience with a working demonstra tion. He transmitted several songs and a coronet solo to a number receiv- ers set up around the meeting hall. This was with no wire connecting the transmitter with any of the receivers. (As a matter of general informa- tion, the Society of Telegraph and Electricians was the predecessor of the English "Institution of Electrical Engineers’)
At a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science held in Montreal] in 1882, Dolbear read a paper on “Telegraphy Without Wires". Im this he described a system whereupon he attached his trans- mitter to a wire supported by a kite some 500 feet up in the air. The transmitting equipment consisted of a Morse key and a spark coil connected directly to the wire and to ground. His signals were heard a few hundred feet away by his receiver (details of which are unfortunately lacking). His receiver was connected between a tin roof and ground. (The ingenuity of mankind knows no bounds!).
He demonstrated his apparatus again at the Electrical Exhibition in Phila- delphia in 1884. Finally, however, in 1886 a patent #350,229 was allowed, followed later by patent #355,149.
Certainly his experiments seemingly marked the beginning of radio tele- phony which actually, in a practical sense, did not assert itself until many, many years later.
Dolbear clearly demonstrated the existence of electric waves in space. It is interesting to note that all this took place at least five years BEFORE Hertz conducted his monumental experiments and when Marconi was but a lad of eight. There is considerable doubt existent that Dolbear had ever heard of Maxwell and his work.
When Marconi was invited by the New York Herald in 1899 to report by wire- less the America Cup Race between the Shamrock and the Columbia, Dolbear informed Marconi that he would restrain him in view of his (Dolbear's) patents. However, later, as a matter of courtesy, Dolbear allowed Marconi to report the yacht race without further objection.
In 1899, the first American "Wireless Telephone and Telegraph Company” was incorporated. This company obtained the rights to Dolbear's wireless pat- ents and hired as its wireless enaineers Pickard and Shoemaker.
During his lifetime, Volbear nad many inventions to his credit including an electrical gyroscope with which he demonstrated the rotation of the earth; a magneto-telephone somewhat after the fashion of our early day telephone; @ coil-type ammeter probably similar in some ways to the D'Arsonval meter, and many other devices.
Had Dolbear received a few more breaks in life, he might today have been credited with inventing the telephone and the radio. In any discussion as to who “invented radio", the name of Amos Dolbear should most certainly be tossed into the ring.
Dolbear lived an interesting, inventive and productive life which came to a close in 1910 when he was 73 years old.
1900 - REPLICA FIRST MARCONI WIRELESS CABIN ABOARD SHIP
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Replica of wireless cabin of 1900 constructed for the Marconi Marine Jubilee Exhibition, Baltic Exchange, 1950. Equipment (L/R) two coherer receivers; Morse inker, jigger; Leyden jar condensors
and 10" coil extra condenser and 2V accumulators are on the floor beneath the desk. Republiched by permission - Marconi Inter-
H. B. Clayton = photographer.
national Marine Co., Ltd.
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THE “KFS” EDITION
ees eu eel ele 6
Communications
ee ee ee es ee
on the
Great Lakes
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PRELUDE
Une of the loneliest events in the lifeof the early mariner was witnessing the last mooring line being thrown clear fromthe dock. In essence, all effective comm- nication with society was termi- nated. The vessel log served as
the silent record for the voyage }
which terminated after months at sea. The log books of many ves- sels, unfortunately, became the permanent property of the sea with the fate of the vessel be known.
This solemn situation is no longer existent in the life of the mariner. The merchant vessels
of thiscentury are equipped with |
a variety of sophisticated elec- tronic devices that assist in vessel navigation and provide ior mediate communication with shore stations. This communication capability has played a vital part in promoting safety of life and property at sea.
The Great Lakes Shipping Indus- try has historically provento be 4 leader inthe field of commni- cation system. The safety record established by the vessels engaged in the commerce of the Great Lakes is enviable and unsurpassed on the navigable waters of the world. The innovations that have tran- spired on the lakes has led and will continue to lead the indus- try. This article will trace the
Great Lakes and relate how it has played an intricate part in the promotion of safety.
The turn of the century marked the arrival of commercial radio service. In 1898, a 24-year-old Italian, Cuglielm Marconi, im stalled the first commercial radio service. The user was Lloyds of London, which employed the service
S.S. REPUBLIC / MKC-
never to:
off the Irish coast . for ship arrival information. The develop- ment and acceptance of the wire- less telegraph, however, Was thwarted due to the general atcri- tude that the radio was only an expensive Luxury.
On the evening of January 23, }
1909, the Italian vessel FLORIDA collided with the White Star Liner REPUBLIC in a fog 26 miles off the coast of Massachusetts.
The REPUBLIC sent adistress call |
via the wireless (radio tele- graph), and within minutes other ships were proceeding to the scene. There were gore than 1,500 persons aboard the two vessels and all but 6 persons were rescued. The FLORIDAWas not equipped with a wireless. Three vears later the world was to witness one of the worst tragedies at sea, the sink- ing of the TITANIC. The vessel
struck an iceberg and sank in less |
than 3 hours ina position approx- imately 1,300 miles from New York. The wireless was again credited with saving many lives. The radio operator managed to contact the CARPATHIA forassistance. Of the 2,224 persons on board the TITANIC, 710 persons were rescued.
Possibly more lives would have been saved if the wireless opera- tor on the CALIFORNIA, only a short distance away, had not gone off duty for the night.
These twocasualties were among many that aided in arresting the doubts of the marine industry as to the usefulness of communica- tion capability at sea. This, in effect, marked the birthof a new industry that would prove to be invaluable to the safety of the men and ships at sea.
During the period 1910 to 1912, the United States, Great Britain and other maritime countries made it mandatory for all ships over a certain tonnage to be equipped with a radio telegraph. Addi- tionally, the United States passed
( legislation requiring a 24-hour
= /- . > = = - Py ——_ ——_— 4 7 —_ ——— : =
Watch on certain class vessels. By 1918, 5,700 ships were equipped
|. with a wireless telegraph.
Communications on the Great Lakes
, Although the radio telegraph was mot required equipment on board Great Lakes vessels, a number of vessels were so equipped. As of June 30, 1935, approximately 1,975 lakers were equipped with a wireless--which was the only long- range means of communication available. The radio telegraph, however, Was destined to become a thing of the past with the in- troduction of radio telephone communications.
The SS WILLIAM ATWATER, owned by the Wilson Transport Company in Cleveland, Ohio, was the first lakes vessel to be equipped with a radiotelephone. The equipment was installed by Lorain County Radio Corporation, a newly-formed company operating under an exper- imental licenée issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in Washington, DC. The ship-to-shore radio telephone station was established in Lorain and within one year became WMI, a public service coastal harbor station.
Only three months after the radio telephone was installed aboard the SS ATWATER, the device proved itself as atoolof safety. On August 27, 1934, an emergency call ftom Lake Superior to WMI Lorain was placed by the crew to seek medical instructions for
first aid treatment. The Captain had fallendown a companionway and was knocked unconscious. The physician's instructions were followed and the vessel called at
Credit Steamship Historical Society Librar University of Baltimore.
(USCG furnished)
the nearest port where the Captain was removed to a hospital. This incident demonstrated that radio telephone communications were rapid, with improved accuracy through personal voice contact. Additionally, the need for an op- erator, as required for the radio telegraph, was eliminated.
In the year 1936, the Lake Carriers’ Association chose to develop the radio telephone systen rather than equipping the vessels
with radio telegraph equipment. |
There were a number of bills
developed by Congress to require |
radio telegraph aboard all Great Lakes vessels, but all attempts were defeated. The Lake Carriers’ Association retained the firm of Jansky and Bailey to devise a radio telephone systen for the Great Lakes. By the close of the year 1939, acommon and integrated sys- tem for mrine coomwnications had been established. The system established channel 51 (2182 KHz) as the common contact and safety distress calling channel, along with additional channels ship-to-shore and ship-to-ship communications. This was accom plished through the cooperative efforts of both the Canadian and United States governmental agen- cies, marine industry and Lake Carriers’ Association.
The yearof 1940 recorded a nuor-
ber of violent storm onthe Great’
Lakes. The loss of life and ves- sel loss was great. In an attempt to give the mariner as ouch no- tice as possible, the United States Weather Bureau began util- izing the radio telephone for weather broadcasts ,in1941. This service has provento be of great value to the mariner in the safe navigation of vessels.
The unfortunate events that transpired during the day of April 27, 1944 resulted in yet
. another safety broadcast that has contributed greatly tothe safety
record of the lakes. Lake Erie was blanketed with fog, which is common on the lakes during the early months after the opening of navigation. The SS JAMES H. REED and Canadian vessel ASHCRAFT col- lided approximately 20 ofles north of Conneant, Ohio. The REED sank almost immediately with the loss of 10 lives and injury to 3 crewmembers. Approximately two hours later, the SS PHILIP MINCH and SS FRANK VIGOR collided under cover of the same fog near Pelee Passage. The VIGOR sank with no loss of life. These two casualties prompted innovative
thinking on the part of certain members of the marine community.
) The FCC was petitioned to allow ja safety broadcast of "Security,
security, security---" on char
nel 51. The broadcast was to be
|! made blindly on channel 5! advis-
ing all vessels in the immediate area of the broadcasting vessel's location and anticipated move- ment. The petition was approved
} and the broadcast has developed
into a vital safety tool on the Great Lakes.
Page 12
for |
By 1950, every Great Lakes ves- sel was equipped with a radio telephone and use was widespread. The waters of the Great Lakes are international, with Lake Michigan being the only lake having total U.S. shoreline.
To ensure the proper use of the radio telephone, especially from a safety standpoint, a treaty be- tween Canada and the United States was signed on November 13, 1954. The treaty, commonly referred to as the Great Lakes Agreement, re- quires that all vessels of 500 gross tons or over, or over 65 feet in length and carrying pas- sengers, or engaged in towing, be equipped with a multi-channel medium frequency radio telephone with controls located on the bridge. It was required that the phone be FCC approved, capable of monitoring channel 51 (2182 KHz) and operating onchannel 52 (2002 KHz), plus additional channels, to handle public correspondence, The signing of this treaty offi- cially marked the radio telephone as the primary means of marine commnication onthe Great Lakes. (This treaty was amended on May 6,
1975 to require VHF rather than MF capabilities.)
By 1946, it had become apparent that projected user needs would be so great that the existing MF- HF system would not be able to meet the demand. Additionally, in 1947 the Atlantic City Radio Conference adopted channel 51 (2182 KHz) for world-wide use as a safetydistress channel. These factors prompted the Lake Carriers’ Association to examine the feasibility of employing VHF (very high frequency) in range of 156-162 MHz, as a means of reliev- ing the burden placed on MF and HF.
VHF Communications
The studies initiated by Lake Carriers’ Association rendered positive results in favor of FM/ VHF. The study revealed that ap- proximately 70 percent of all com
minications were 50 miles or less and primarily ship-to-ship. The major advantages of VHF are that it is highly reliable, static free, good fordistances upto 50 miles and fades rapidly at greater distances. It also offers a num ber of channels for marine use. The FCC was petitioned to allow the establishment of a mlti- channel VHF system. In1951, the
proposal was approved with 156-_
162 MHz as the frequency range. Channel 16 (156.8 MHz) was estab- lished as the common contact and safety distress calling channel. The use of VHF (FM) spread rapid- ly both for shipboard and Great Lakes shore station use.
(Cont'd mext nage)«s-ssssenenuun
Back to Index THE
On May 6, 1975 it became Law, through treaty between Canada and the United States, that every ves- sel of 65 feet or longer navigat- ing on the Great Lakes, every vessel engaged intowing, and ves- sels carrying more than six pas- sengers for hire, be equipped with a multi-channel VHF radio tele- phone operating in the frequency range 156-162 MHz with monitoring capabilities onchannel 16 (156.8 MHz).
The importance of the radio telephone becomes readily appar- ent to an observer on the bridge of a vessel navigating the Great Lakes. The ship's officer nor-
a i a a i
mally positions himself at “the [
front window" while piloting the vessel. From this position he can easily reach the whistle con- trol, engine order telegraph bow thruster control, observe the radar, and reach the gulti-channel VHF radio. Prior to getting un- derway, the Captain will give a "security" broadcast on channel 16. tress channel 16 is constantly monitored. Communications be- tween the company and vessel are immediate. Pésition reports, per- sonnel changes, supply require- ments, dispatching information are just afew of the information items passed. The vessel trans- mits omscene weather conditions to the National Weather Service where it is compiled and broad- cast to all vessels. The radio provides the wedium by which Notice to Mariners and Safety Broadcast are disseminated im mediately. The Soo Lock, Welland Canal, and St. Lawrence Seaway rely on the radio telephone for communication between control centers and vessels. The radio telephone and the manner in which it is employed onthe Great Lakes virtually forms a network for all vessels to be made aware of marine
—agttivities in the vicinity. geographical makeup of the area, with miles of narrow rivers and blind turns coupled with the fre- quency of transits, makes the lakes one of the mst difficult bodies of water to navigate in the world. The officer positioned in "the front window" is aware and anticipates the meting situation that is blinded by the bend in the river. Rules of the Road dictate that whistle signals gust be exchanged in meeting and over- taking situations. However, if any element of uncertainty exists both vessels will normally reach agreement Via radio telephone long before whistle Signals are sounded.
While underway, safety/dis- _
The |
*“ system on the Great Lakes.
During the 1977 navigational season there were over 11,000 passages inthe Detroit River Sys- tem alone. telephone along with the exper- ience and skill of the Great Lakes mariner produced a combination resulting ina commendable safety record. The Automated Commercial Vessel Casualty file maintained by the Office of Marine Safety, Information and Analysis Staff, in Washington, DC reveals that for the entire Great Lakes there were only 18 collisions where both ves- sels were underway for the period of fiscal years 1972 through 1977. In eight of the investigations, the radio telephone was mentioned as being incorrectly employed. Additionally, 9 of the 18 casual- ties involved foreign vessels (other than Canadian).
it is apparent that the radio telephone has playeda major role in establishing the safety record on the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes marine industry, through dedication to safety, has proven to be a leader in marine commni- cations and continues to maintain the recognition by ever seeking to improve uponthe existing sys- ten.
The provisions of the 1967 World Administrative Radio Conference which led to the Federal Commmni- cation Rules requiring the cor version of MH/FH radio telephone from double sideband to single sideband technique and VHF char
nels fromwideband to narrowband, '
demise of the manually operated The separately owned and operated MF/ HF/VHF radio telephone shore stations on the Great Lakes are dependent on revenue fromthe nur- ber of calls handled. The fewer
number of operating vessels, coor |
bined with required replacement of equipment as a result of the
The Future Is Now
FCC Rules, introduced an addi-
tional financial burden to the j
stations. Shipping companies were also faced with the problemof re-
placing shipboard MF/HF and VHF |
equipment.
In 1968 and Carriers’ a study conducted by Technology System,
1969, the Lake Association sponsored
Advanced Arlington,
Virginia todetermine the practi- }
cality of a centrally operated AL1-VHF System The findings of the study were favorable. tionally, in 1972 the Maritime
The use of the radio |;
A i Rk a a Rg ld a i i
ra
Addi- |
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BOARD,
THE IMPORTANCE OF SHIPBOARD WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS AND, PARTICULARLY, THE EVOLUTION OF THE WIRELESS TELEGRAPH AND LATER THE RADIO TELEPHONE ON THE LAKES IS DISCUSSED IN AN ARTICLE BEGINNING ON PAGE 12,
GREAT
Administration sponsored a Domes~- tic Shipping Research conference which established the need for an improved lakes-wide VHF communi- cation system. The conference resulted inthe Maritime Adminis- tration awarding Lorain Electron ics Corporation a contract to develop 4 proto-type system, which was completed in1974 and refined during the 1975 and 1976 shipping season. The system was completed early in 1978 and consists of 16 unmanned stations serving Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario.
The systen basic new features:
introduces three full duplex
HMS CARPATHIA - MPA RESPONDING TO SOS-COD SAVES OVER 700 LIVES
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voice transmission; an on-line computer system for registration and processing data; and facsinc- fle or teletype transmission of data.
The system allows the seamanto dial directly froma vessel to any
-telephone dialable through land ,
network. Conversely, a caller ashore can dial a ship directly
if the vessel's location amd ad- dress code are known. In the event the location or address code is not known, the system operator will make the connection through the systems control center. The full duplex voice transmission feature eliminates the disadvan- tage of having to push-to-talk. The system employs a Varian V- 72 computer and has the capability of gathering position and weather reports from all ships operating on the Great Lakes within seven minutes. This is accomplished by the mate entering the pertinent data in the periodic Report Reg- ister. The register is rectan- gular in shape and is auxiliary to the radio telephone unit. A touch-tone dial pad, similar to the telephone touch-tone, is utilized to enter the vessel's data alpha~-numerically into the on board memory which is digitally displayed. Message headings are determined by turning a thumb- wheel on the register. Up to 14 different types of data can be entered for automatic polling by the shore-based computer. When the data has been entered by the mate, the thumbwheel is turned in position "ready." At specified times during the day the system computer collects the register information and triggers the "data sent" on digital read-out. The
SINKING OF HMS TITANIC - MGY APRIL 15.1912 MADE “WIRELESS” THE MAGIC WORD
ON APRIL 1C 1912, THE TITANIC LEFT ENGLAND ON HER MAIDEN VOYAGE. LATER. AS HER PASSENGERS WERE PREPARING A CELEBRATION OF THE LAST NIGHT OF THEIR JOURNEY TO THE U.S.» THE STEAMER STRUCK AN ICEBERG AND SANK.
would eventually lead to the / WIWMEROUS ICEBERG WARNINGS HAD BEEN RECEIVED BY THE VESSEL’S WIRELESS OPERATORS { BUT THE REPORTS HAD GONE UNHEEDED.
| THE TITANIC’S DISTRESS CALL WAS ACKNOWLEDGED BY SEVERAL SHIPS; THE CARPATHIA 1 S8 MILES AWAY, WAS FIRST AT THE COLLISION SCENE.
MANY PASSENGERS WERE SAVED, BUT SURVIVORS NUMBERED LESS THAN ONE-THIRD OF THE TOTAL PERSONS ON
Republished from USCG's "PROCEEDINGS" V-36, No.1 (1979) with permission. Our thanks to Author James R. Comerford USCG,
FOUR DAYS
data. The display will give the ship's expected position derived from a progranmemploying an algo- rithm to compute the position. The operator, with the aidof the computer, can also complete mar | ually-handled calls by remote control of the shore station switching functions.
The application of the facsir- ile capabilities of the systen are numerous. Among the applications are transmission of personnel | Listings, typed pages, sketches | and pictures. This capability was utilized during winter naviga- tions for the years 1974-75 and 1975-76 for transmission of ice] charts. The charts that are| transmitted are timely and provide | a great service to the navigator | in directing the vessel's move- ments through the ice.
CONCLUSION
The Great Lakes has entered into a new generation of commnication capability in the establishment of automated telecommunications. The capabilities of the systenare numerous. Just as in the past, the system will be fully devel- oped to maximize the utilization safety aspect of the radio tele-|
CREDITS
National Weather Service can then query the computer and get a dump of current weather data which is compaled into a ctimesy and accu- ; Yate weather broadcast. The posi- ! tion reports received fron the
vessels are sorted by the computer
and transmitted automatically to
the teleprinters in the respec- tive shipping companies’ offices.
presently Exec. Officer - Marine Safety Office at Detroit, MI. He was awarded the Navy "Commen-— dation Medal" for service with Combat V off Vietnam | Our thanks also to Member Ed English for calling our attention to this very interesting article. Picture credits as shown were all supplied by the U. S. Coast Guard. -30-
he information gathered by the computer is available to the sys~- tem operator, located at the control center in Lorain, Ohio. The operator can query the com puter concerning
SS:__ CARPATHIA ~- MPA
PICTURE TAKEN IN 1903. OPERATOR THOMAS COTTAM OF THE CARPATHIA WAS FIRST TO PICK UP THE TITANIC’S DISTRESS CALL. HE SPENT OVER 3 DAYS AND NIGHTS WITHOUT SLEEP HANDLING DETAILS AND FINALLY FELL EXHAUSTED OVER HIS TELEGRAPH KEY,
Page 13
a particular
vessel’ and obtain a CRT display- ing a read-out of the vessel's
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Back to Index TRE RFS tuiliun
L | Ct Cy ro 8
& a a ~ ry = C |
UP THE AMAZON WITHOUT GUN, CAMERA OR B-BATTERIES | ee
As Related By Matthew Camillo to Fred Rosebury
OCEAN
* * BARBADOS
R/O AND SHIPMATE INVENT A PADDLE TO GET OUT OF THE CREEX
<7 TRINIDAD ana TOBAGO
I was R/O on the SS CROFTON HALL/WDCW, a passenger ship which was bought by Moore & McCormack and had its name changed to the SS COM- MERCIAL TRAVELER. Then it was sold to the government of Colombia in 1933 or 1934 and had its name changed again to SS CIUDAD de CUCUTA/ HJAV for use as a troop ship. The American crew was to be kept intact under contract for one year subject to dissolvement by either party (Colombia govt. or ship's crew),
We went to the Port of Spain, Trinidad, for supplies, and with 1500 Colombian troops went up the Amazon, We took three pilots - four-on-and-eight-off watches, until we reached Matadi, The ship was equipped with the "latest" radio gear: a PS spark xmitter, a crystal and a 106-D revr, with a 1-tube detector.
| My second operator was Tom Bicket (see below) from Long Island - there were only the two of us and it was the first time at sea for Tom. While at Puerto Colombia, Tom went ashore, taking the set of B batteries (for the single tube) with him without my knowledge. He swap] them for a bottle. I omly found out about this too late after we left port on the way up the river, So I used the crystal for receiving and said to Tom "Mum's the word—" since no one knew how poorly equipped we were.
Rec ts
wy aw* = paraguay! 240 Paulo — Our destination was Laticia. The tub went as far as she could and he a) id ee ere we dropped the hook. (Peru and Colombia had been at war up to then, } thiinde ow * es but peace was now signed and all was quiet.) a ’ Sf
oe iy [a A Porto Alegre
-
Please get this: Upon a ing, General G.D,Vargas (later, president of Brazil) came to me wanted to establish 950 with Bogota, He got the surprise of his life when I told him how ill- equi we were — tried to raise hell with me, but calmed down when | I told him that short-wave was not available anyway. <A few cays later
he came up to the shack and said there was a Colombian gunboat up on the bank of the river not fer away. "Go and see what you can Salvage," he told ge.
rio
BUENOS > Montevideo
We had it made - - - almost!
So with First Assistant Engr.Burris, I went on board the gunboat which was owned by a stockbroker who had plenty of dough, What we saw when we made a search wes an eyeful! A custom—built »«aitter - 800 to 27 meters, with a pair of 2044 tubes in final. There were two National shortwave recvrs. Fortunately the radio gear was all above water, and I thought we had it eade. The shock came when I discover- ed itwwas ALL 60 CY AC GEAR!
But we took it out and brought it aboard the CUCIUTA anyway. .. . To mia yaegs an old onrane "Dire necessity is the Mom of Invention." I rack tO 71 7
| wy brains trying S. ou | ® 4 cony r for Input was 11 outpu
| all this wonderful gear. Out of the two 204A tubes, only one wes forget it!) “r tenes Por wax
good — the other absolutely NG. tle in those days.) So around until I heard a fruit his wave,
Jungle Engineering OSO WAX... We had it made
By then it wes like climbing the ladder or success — that last rung was the final glory: HURRAY! IT WORKED! I gave WAX a call or two and he came back, It was now close to 5 a.m. our time. I told him about the ship, about the American crew and all the details, and that we had not heard from home in over three months, and would he pse ® BSgs: ol an govt, wou ° h - He said QRX @ ginute, then came back and gave me the Go Ahead,
Meanwhile Gen.Vargas, the skipper, the mates, etc. were all around us. By the time I had received a QSL for the first two msgs, the crowd in the shack bad increased and was bulging: mates, meenesrs watertenders, seamen, etc. etc. I collected over 30 us got aS. for all. Then the General e me tfc for Colombia for MYC, and by next evening after chow (it was getting darker then), we had ac- complished our purpose, especially for all those who had ass monthly allotments to home folks: no one knew if those allotments hed been delivered. My wife was the first to answer that evening, say- ing all was OK, that she hed received all the allotments, that our daughter was OK, etc,
Equation not found in Bucher
So I got an idee for the converter and when I explained to Burris it (with enthusiasm). And that afternoon we went to the
Ship's machine shop and went to work. Since we had little choice in the way of material we head to make do with what we had. We found some pieces of 3/4" bakelite from which Burris turned out two pieces 2" in diameter and two 3" in diameter. We cut eight segments out of sheet eee which were mounted on the 5" wheels a la commutator and spaced | 1/16" apart (8 on each wheel). (We found later that there was no trouble from carbon accumulation although there was Some Sparking.) I tore apart four flashlight batts for brushes, We took @ copper condenser tube 5" in diameter and a smaller piece of copper pipe from which Burris made the 5" and the smaller one to fit the respective bakelite pieces, I tore a fan off the wall for its motor; when I checked the speed I found it was 900 rpm (see diagram, )
Good ol' Burris made some proper c ings and end bearings, also he cut a piece of ~" floor plate 18" x 10* to mount the whole thing on; and by midnight we were rarin' to go.
On top of the xaitter I built a breadboard and wound the induct- ances on the corrugated part of the NG 204A, took two condensers from the gunboat xmitter, ome for tuning the MO and the other for the antenna,— said a silent prayer — and we were ready to try it out!
Some of the figures for the converter by actual calculation. DC can be converted to AC, to any frequency:
| x # of segments on one whee 1) x 8 7200 freqe TPR x ¢ of segments on one wheel . * 55 + 60 cy.
NOTE: Some time later, when I was R/O on the SS STEEL NAVIGATOR, Some of the crew bought themselves Pilot shortwave radios with vibrators for conversion. I expected brwakdowns in about a week — and sure 'muff it happened. I gave the idea of the "commtator" con- verter to the first asst. engr.: he built a close duplicate of the original one, also with a 900 rpm DC fan motor. We tried it by rest- ing it on his bunk — and it worked so well that it was placed atop the water tank in the “head,” where the others could take feed from it. This one ran night and day; collected dust but it never failed.
...about Matty
DC About me: I was li ed ham in 1 3 Ge Eanes my Comml.iic. in 1925 and vent. to work for’ thé Horgan tines Dia ie = — , stints in Small BC stns then starting up = and you said your prayers ! | / that you would get your 30 bucks or so at the end of the week, I've D Schematic D c gone as mich as 8 weeks without pay. , Then went to sea for awhile. Antious t t ashore, , EMERGENCY DC TO AC CONVERTER | be CAA (now PAL). They paid only $1550 & year at the’ beginning. 1 : went to "CNi"/Concord and was trying to keep two homes going; it was ee RPM DC FAN MOTOR a tough job so I quit and went to RCA for an assignment. OUPLING - | : wee . got my COMML. EXTRA PIAST CLASS ti | Thursday C-C-COLLECTOR RINGS - AC OUTPUT and Saturday I sailed on the SS VIRGINIA/WSEM of the Tat Line. After D-D=DC INPUT (COMMUTATOR) 8 segments ea.wheel two trips I took @ job as RCA Radio Inapector/Installer, first in E-END BEARING . ! > ree Ce ee Cem enePa Ty area, just Bill Uhler and I, he in the F-F-CARBON BRUSHES FR |
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Back to Index ne “KFS” EDITION : . __THE SPARKS JOURNAL
Sn er er ere i ner ke eee
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~ Globe ring eleranh Dlans Revealed in 1860 “ATLANTIC-MONTHLY”
‘Loudon, Pars. ere.
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SKETCH BY D.K, DE NEUF / Mg | fon
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HISTORICAL PAPER
The inventory of poles, wire, and insulators were sold on the
spot, wherever the material happened to be stalked along the , | , poutna. The Indians and Eskimos found immediate use for the WESTWARD-HO TO FUROPE wire - forming it into large fish hooks and jewelry. Poles were used for bridge construction, and the insulators made fine drinking cups.
BY DONALD K. de NEUF
"Unquestionably the most feasible route for telegraphic communi- cation between America and Europe is one via British and Russian
America, Eastern Siberia and on into Russia. Although it is the longest by several thousand miles, it would afford the most rapid means of communication, owing to the great superiority of aerial over subaqueous lines". This allegedly appeared in the ATLANTIC MONTHLY early in 1860.
In the opinion of many engineers a submarine cable laid in the depths of the Atlantic was completely impracticable. On the other hand even though his early efforts ended in failure, Cy- rus Field was encouraged by a small group to continue his at- tempts.
Companies in various parts of the world were rapidly being form- ed to construct the segments of a proposed semi-globe-girdling system running generally Westward from the U.S. It is interes- ting to note that at this time the U.S. itself had not yet been bridged by the New telegraph - the Pony Express was in operation and was not discontinued until October 1861 when the first trans
204A Xmitting triode (about 15" long) continental line was completed and operating. 250w max; cathode 11v, 3,85a; max 2500v, : | ' : : For class Cc telegraphy, class ee C phone. The Western Union Extension Telegraph Company (US) with a capi- Operating frequency range 3 - 30 mHz. tal of ten million dollars, began construction of an overhead
: line which was to run through British Columbia, "Russia America" (For phone wk, the 849 as modulator.) Used to (now Alaska, which did not become a U.S. territory until 1867),
and across the Bering Straits into Siberia. The line started at New Westminster (BC) which was the northern terminal of the California State Telegraph Co. The Bering Straits seqment of course was to be a 400 mile submarine cable between Alaska and Cape Chukosty in Eastern Siberia, but all other sections were
to be overhead open wire lines on poles. From Cape Chukosty the line was to follow a route around the Sea of Okhotsk to the
run with plate red hot; a very rugged tube.
I took a course at the Capitol Radio Engineering Institute; gred- uated in 1938
Meanwhile I had belonged to the Union all these years. I came home one Saturday to Bergenfield NJ where I found an offer from CE
ed er
where I put in 30 real happy years, some in Operations, mostly at mouth of the Amur River where it would interconnect with the i Te aD en weccttoe in tecrss. model rigs in Brentwood and line being constructed by the Russian Government; from there to St. Petersburg (Leningrad) via Tomsk, Omsk, Perm, Kazan, and ; Pros one were tory ore a ——- a sabbatical of 10. _ Moscow. The St. Petersburg terminal would connect with various o as or ose per oat eve eer, & a 1 | 1 j -_ ge od Pika eae: abe cormoe Timer ant aa: haa Cet as ois , European lines. The length of the circuit, U.S. to St. Peters lark in ay three golden acres, being a moved from Bergenfield tn 1973, burg would be in the order of 10,000 miles. z operate ay hem Set which has always been on CW end SSB, but ay The magnitude of this over-all project, especially the construc-
heart is in C¥; SSB is for CBS retired wh 't , soitt | aes want to keep wp with then I had to go ro Sab Re ee tion through the mountains of British Columbia, Alaska, and Si-
beria was breath-taking, but not overwhelming. The promotors,
t was Secretary/Treemurer of the Vetersna Wireless Operators planners and engineers involved were all hardy souls accustomed Association for eight years: 1970-1978. : ; | : ;
- to a rough life and many gambles. For example, while timber for wee eters it oe ne reese hg ae _ gecne® ee ieee poles existed on most of the route, they would have to haul, in Radio-TV construction shop, which is by ee a Gmae place, They frequently severe weather, all the poles required for unwooded have about a dozen first-class machinists and all kinds of pachin- steppe areas which were five hundred miles wide on each side of ery. At one time there were about 750 technicians working at CBS; the Bering Sea. that includes operation, xmitters, fils, TV repair crews fror the x
' = < officers’ offices), It is « wonderful place to work. By 1865 a reliable trans-Atlantic submarine telegraph cable was . I ae Mey. 1970. meving i Wolke SERRATE OR Seat ae D pay, operating successfully and the enthusiasm for continued con- wes icially we, until July 50, but during that weeks I struction of the new line via the Pacific route with its enor- Tope @ SOLp QUEL The Sp NE CO, O8 GaNO, BID. mous cost rapidly died out, and the project was cancelled. Tom ee became a Silent key while «et CBS. He took sick and died about 1961. 73a to all. -—Matthew Camillo CISO-Sae JCNEEB 393 Gordons Corner Road Englishtown NJ 07726 * The Morgan Line was known “along the waterfront as the "Prume-Pit Line." They ran coastwise to Eastern, Southern and Gulf ports; it j
was a cheep way to travel. The navigators could steer their courses by Soundings along the way; if the lead brought up a prune- P 15 pit or two they knew they were on the right course... (Ed.) oe? age |!
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NOTE TO MEMBERS. We need pictures—please send pictures of yourself, your ship, or anything of real interest for these pages.
al — — _—_ —— all Seemed — —— = —_ — — —— [el — —_— — —— — — 4 i
LITTLE ‘GRASS SHACK’ IN HAWAII ~ 1938, "Charlie" Darracott assigned to the USS LEXINGTON/NIKM- Pearl Harbor - 1927.
DIRECTOR AND GUEST
Judge James Harvey (Jim) Brown (381-SGP W6VH) snapped at the head-table of a SOCIETY MEETING in Pasadena, CA with long time friend and quest Maria deForest, wife of the Late Dr. Lee de Forest.
. This lovely lady has attended many Society meetings in S. Calif.(We regret to report Maria has been in ill health
and now hospitalized in a nursing home in Los Angeles). Late Note:
Judge "Jim" Brown has been chosen by the nominations committee on its slate for next President of the Society.
LEE R. LEIGHTON 2811-sGP SKIPPER CAUGHT IN A ‘PENSIVE’ MOOD ATS GREAT NORTHERN/WIR "Ye Ancient Mariner" -- "Bill Breniman, that is ... snapped by ship's photographer aboard the SS MARIPOSA waiting to snap a pix of THE BRIDGE as ship swung out of the harbor. He was thinking about the many enjoy-
able calls to Australian ports nearly 50 years before on "KEBQ" .
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Ui ee Wr ee ee Ws es Ae
Communications news ... In pictures ...
WE ALL CALLED HIM “RADIO REX”
Gilson Vander Veer Willets - 22-SR. SGP became a silent key Jan. 7 1976. Radio Rex started VWOA in 1925. Prior to his passing he was the Society's First Historian and one of its Directors. Here we see him comparing the new against the old.
WORLD’S FIRST “DISK-JOCKEY”
Charter Member RAY NEWBY & XYL (49-Sr.SGP) "Ray"claim to being the World's "FIRST DISK- JOCKEY" is well documented - circa 1909. First ship assignment was the SS Atlas/GN-1910.
TECHNICAL EDITOR & CONSULTANT
Thorn L. Mayes who was the very first TECHNICAL
ASSOCIATE to be accepted by the Society (Jan.30, 1971). He has written many Historical Papers on
the Early Days of the Wireless and has served as Technical Editor and consultant for many years.
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| “OFF LIMITS” YOU GOBS ......
HEE | | Sorry to tell you fellows, this Navy "Miss" (RM 2/c at NPM in 1945) He = GANNETT-3214- now splits her loyalty with the U.S. Signal Corps. Her hubby is ee eee a Major, James R. Stephens- Signal Corps Ret. (TA-93) His XYL answers 7 to the handle "Dottie" over station KA4GNF. Dorothy B. Stephens is SOWP member No. 3021-V. Pix by husband "Jim"
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GKA-World’s Busiest Maratime Station Greets SOWP.
Post Office Radio Station , HIGHBRIDGE & Somerset POST OFFICE TAS 3JY 2 October 1978 Please address any reply to Telephone: The Officer-in-Charge Burnham-on-Sea 783291 and quote: (STD code 0278)
Your reference: Telex: 46111 (PORTISHEAD RADIO)
The Society of Wireless Pioneers P.Q. Box 530 Santa Rosa, California 95402
Dear Editor Breniman:
Greetings from GKA - the world's busiest maritime radio coast station.
Vol 1 No 4 of the Sparks Journal reached here today after relay through the post office in London and our transmitter site at Portishead. We have been reading your Journal for many years, and I thought that now was an opportune time to give you our correct address.
1978 marks an important stage in the history of Portishead Radio in that the original transmitter site at Portishead goes out of service. Meanwhile we have been providing for an ex- panded maritime communication system and have increased to 50 transmitter services at Rugby, Dorchester, Ongar and Leafield. We think we are the busiest radio station in the world and have a staff of 243 radio officers, so your Journal gets well thumb- ed.
In the event that you would wish to know a little about us, I have included a couple of enclosures; make of them. what you Yours Sincerely,
B Don- Aprebhatbacal
Don Mulholland Officer in Charge
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Gi A
THE STATION HEARD AROUND THE WORLD
REPORTED BY DON MULHOLLAND
The complex known as PORTISHEADRADIO is controlled from a re- ceiving centre at Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset. The station takes its name from the transmitter site at Portishead, near Bristol, which has been devoted to the maritime service since 1925. Over the years it has been necessary to supplement the transmitters at Portishead by others at post office radio sta- tions operating in the point-to-point service with other coun- tries. This latter service is declining as more land cable routes and satellite circuits are provided; it has been conven- ient for the maritime service that the decline has occurred during a period of maritime growth. We are currently using 50 transmitters at Dorchester, Leafield in Oxfordshire, Ongar in Essex and Rugby. To cater for maritime expansion in the most efficient manner it has been decided to concentrate maritime services at Rugby, Leafield and Ongar, and to close the stations at Dorchester and Portishead. This programme is already in course. It is providing a modern facility in regard to both transmitters and aerials which are especially suited to the maritime service.
In the financial year ended March 1978, the complex handled 810,000 radiotelegrams, 110,000 and 40,000 calls by radiotele- phone and radiotelex respectively. This compares with 3 mil- lion words by morse in 1938 and a few thousand when the station first started in operation.
Consequent upon the first International Radio Convention in 1906, it became evident that Government would have to take a hand in the development of maritime communication. This re- sulted in the construction of several radio stations and the purchase from Lloyds and Marconi Company of stations operated by them. All these stations provided communication by morse and had a working range of a few hundred miles in the medium wave band.
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GKA - ONE OF 3 WIRELESS/TELEGRAPH OPERATING ROOMS (Photo by Chris Hammond Studios)
: , | Page 18 ____
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Ce SE VE ee ee ee eee Ee ee
Early Experiments
It may be interesting to recall some of the early experiments in radio communication, notably by Marconi and Franklin. Morse Signals bridged the Atlantic in 1901 and the first speech fol- lowed in 1915; three years later the first morse message was sent from England to Australia. In those early days it was the common belief that long distance communication was possible on long waves; the longer the wave, the greater the power, the higher the aerial, the greater was the range of working. It became common practice to use wavelengths of thousands of met- res. This then was the form of communication in the 1920's. Back in 1916, Marconi and Franklin had experimented on short waves using 2 metres for line of sight communication. Mean- while, radio amateurs had been allocated chunks of the spectrum thought to be of little use for long distance working; reports of transatlantic contacts below 200 metres resulted in further experiments by Marconi and Franklin and enabled them to work
Australia on radiotelephone in 1924; these experiments con- firmed the 1920 theories of Appleton about reflecting layers in the ionosphere.
It was against this background that the post office established two long wave stations for maritime communication. One at De- vizes in Wiltshire was designed to provide two-way communica- tion with ships at ranges of up to 2000 miles in the band 110- 160 kilohertz; this was provided in 1920. The other was at Rugby which was provided with high power, used longer waves and higher masts this provided one-way communication to ships. licity material available at the time quoted:
Rugby Radio to ships on all seas at 1s/6d per word - Devizes Radio and other land stations for ships up to five
days from a British port, 11d a word; facilities also avail
able from ship to shore,
{It rapidly became apparent that the facilities at the Devizes station were inadequate and that it would be necessary to sepa- rate the transmitting and receiving stations. In January 1925 the Devizes station was closed and a new complex was opened in
Somerset with receivers and control at Burnham-on-Sea and trans-
mitters at Portishead. The same type of communication, as at Devizes, was provided and it concentrated upon the passenger liner trade in the Atlantic.
Meanwhile, taking note of the Marconi and Franklin experiments in short wave working, the post office inaugurated an experi- ment in 1926 from the Burnham/Portishead stations, using one transmitter and one receiver in the short wave bands, with the liners Carinthia and Olympic. It was immediately successful and from this small beginning, fifty years ago, maritime long distance two-way communication developed.
Concurrent with the post office maritime developments, Marconi and Franklin pushed ahead with their short wave experiments; this resulted in a projected plan for long wave communication within the British Empire to be abandoned. Inventing valves suitable for the job, aerials and coaxial feeders, they built a short wave communication between Empire governments using
directional aerials; this was known as the beam system. Some of these experiments were in use forty years later. The first link was introduced between Britain and Canada in 1926. Thus,
the point-to-point service on short wave developed at the same time as the maritime short wave service.
GKA - CONTROL ROOM AREA SHOWING SHIPS BUREAU ( TO SHIP ROUTING TRAFFIC) IN FOREGROUND. TRAFFIC LIST AND INTERCOM CONTACT POINT WITH W/T, R/T. & RADIO TELEX OPERATING POSITIONS ( IN BACKGROUND). | THROUGH GLASS SCREEN A SECTION OF THE LANDLINE ROOM. Pix by Douglas Allen.
Page 19
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PART OF THE RADIO TELEX ROOM - Chris Hammond Studios Picture.
From the early beginning at Burnham/Portishead (Portishead Radio) we rapidly developed, using frequencies in the range 4 to 22 Megahertz. By 1939, fifteen receivers and six transmit- ters were in use, handling about 3% million paid words in each year. Then with the war came the cessation of commercial work- ing, to be replaced by naval communications which included the landings in North Africa, the sinking of the Scharnhorst, dis- tress calls and enemy reports.
WW 2 Spawns Need to Expand Wireless
The demand for an increase in world-wide maritime communication, immediately after World War Two, gave rise to a major reconstruo- tion and requipment programme in 1948, and since then further additions and modifications have been made. This introduced a new era for morse communication which was to last until 1971. Radio stations in the British Commonwealth agreed to partici- pate in a world-wide link-up and with each station responsible for working with ships in their own area. The Royal Navy pro- vided a link between the land stations. This system catered
for British ships only and avoided the need for extreme long distance communication between ships and shore; ships were able to receive messages from Britain through their own local Common- wealth station and to transmit messages for Britain through the same station. Portishead Radio acted as the coordinator and maintained a vast file index on the movements of all British ships so that messages for them could be routed to the appro- priate station. At this period Portishead Radio had 38 posi- tions for operating world-wide in the 4 to 22 Megahertz bands and 4 positions for operating in the long wave band (110 to 160 kilohertz). But by 1957 the need for long wave working had ceased aid the equipment was changed for short wave equipment; thus 37 years of long wave working came to an end. All communi- | cation with ships was by morse.
Meanwhile, as an offshoot of the short wave beam service to other countries operated through Rugby Radio, a radiotelephone service with ships had also been developed. Transmitters at Rugby, and receivers at Baldock, were linked in a London Termi- nal.
Telex Takes Over Landwire
At this stage it is of interest to note the changes that had occurred in landline communications. Within this country the post office had used, traditionally, morse code on sounder cir- cuits, and this was how the original maritime stations develop- ed. Messages to ships were tendered at post offices and trans- mitted to the coast stations and in the reverse direction mes- sages from ships were delivered through the appropriate post office. There were also links with other countries through London Central Telegraph Office. Then came the age of the tele- printer and Portishead was equipped with teleprinters working directly into the Central Telegraph Office in London through which all messages were routed. In course of time the post of- fice developed a system of manually operated teleprinter ex- changes where calls from one post office could be connected to another; again, Portishead Radio was included in this system. Manually operated exchanges gave way in course of time to auto- matic exchanges with facilities at the terminals to directly dial the wanted post office or coast radio station. Then fol- lowed the telex system where private subscribers were able to dial and deliver their own messages. The rapid growth of the system has made it uneconomic for the post office to continue with its own internal system and now all traffic between post offices and Portishead Radio is dealt with by telex. At the same time, Portishead Radio deals directly on telex with indivi- dual subscribers. It also maintains private circuits with some subscribers who for one reason or another are prepared to pay more; this includes the Meteorological Office and over this
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‘G KA’ PortisheadRadio
( Continued from Page 19 )
circuit are sent meteorological observations from ships at seas, weather routing messages and weather bulletins to ships at sea.
Maritime Radiotelephone
Transferred to Portishead Radio
In 1970 it was decided to transfer maritime radiotelephone work to Portishead Radio and this change produced a remarkable growth in such traffic. It has entailed the provision of additional receivers and transmitters.
With the general growth in radiocommunication it has become necessary to use transmitters at several other locations and
we currently control such equipment from Burnham at Portishead, Dorchester, Rugby, Leafield and Ongar. Many of these equipments were used in the point to point service with other countries. They became spare because of the transfer of such services to cables and to satellite circuits. Thus HF radiocommunication
in the fixed service has declined while the maritime HF service has increased.
Demise of Morse
In 1971 the Commonwealth Area system of communication by morse met its demise, mainly because overseas administrations felt un- able to support it further. So British ships had to revert to the direct method of communication with Portishead Radio, at all distances, in common with foreign flag vessels who had continued with this method throughout. This caused a further increase in the number of equipment at Portishead Radio but introduced some difficulties. British ships had generally been able to fit fair ly low power equipment to maintain contact with local Common- wealth Area stations, but now they had to fit more sophisticated gear. This change was aided by changes in the International Radio Regulations which called for better stability; manufactur- ers, in providing for this, also produced equipment of greater power. It was in the North Pacific that difficulties arose be- cause ships with the lower power equipment had difficulty in communicating with Britain. This is a natural phenomenon which affects the area 140 degrees West to 170 degrees East approxi- mately, So we introduced a special system for dealing with the area; this included high power equipment and directional trans- mitting aerials. It was an immediate success and the system has been extended to other parts of the world. Such facilities were not exactly new because, before the war, a rotating beam system had been available for both transmitters and receivers. Since the war the Portishead reception system has used directional facilities on all circuits from ships.
Radiotelex Expanded
Communication by radiotelex has been used off and on for some years and during the sixties a tanker company made special use of the facilities; it was a contract service rather than a pub- lic service with all ships. Some development in this field was initially retarded while administrations awaited International decision on the performance specifications for such equipment but, in due course, a Dutch design was accepted as the world standard. This enabled Portishead Radio to embark on a public service in January 1974. The system provides a means of connec- ting a ship and any telex subscriber; in effect the interface operation at the coast station may be compared with that of a telephone exchange operator who connects one subscriber to another. The service has been developed on a semi-automatic
basis and the success obtained indicates that it may be possible to completely automate subscriber through disling. At present however, it is possible to set up a circuit between the ship and shore by automatic means and then to connect in the landline subscriber on his telex machine. Intelligence can be placed aboard the ship without the need for any action by the ships Radio Officer. A somewhat similar system of machine telegraphy has been developed for placing aboard a ship intelligence which can be used to automatically produce a daily newspaper and this has been in regular use for some years. It may be that this system of communication will replace the morse system because
it is faster and more accurate.
Broad Coverage of Services
At this stage it may be of interest to describe the various ser- vices. The cheapest form of communication is by Ship Letter Telegram which is in the form of radio transmission from the ship and postal delivery from the coast station. It embraces social and business communication, but caters especially for Agency services such as Interflora, Kays Mail Order, Vernons Football Pools. The most commonly used form of written communi- cation is by radiotelegram; it operates in both directions with speed transit. Radiotelex, also providing for written communi- cation, actually connects the two parties by teleprinter, but is available only to shore customers fitted with telex equipment. Radiotelephone enables parties to be connected by telephone.
Page 20
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GKA -— 1 OF 3 RADIO W/T OPERATING ROOMS AT PORTISHEAD RADIO
While most written communication is handled by morse, it is also possible to use either the radiotelephone or radiotelex facili- ties. Various broadcast services are provided to all ships and these include daily weather bulletins, navigational warnings and press bulletins; these are effected on morse circuits. The liner QE2 is provided with a special newspaper service whereby Signals from the shore are received aboard ship and used to set up a tabloid newspaper. A free medical service allows a ship to obtain advice from the Royal Naval Hospital in Plymouth, using either morse or speech, or to obtain assistance through the aus- pices of the Coastguard and the Air Sea Rescue authorities or by Portishead Radio alerting other ships with Doctors aboard. Fac- simile is provided and pictures or documents can be exchanged by this method. Quite some use was made of this service when pic- tures taken at sea during the Cod War were transmitted from ships to the news media.
Traffic Alerts
The method of alerting ships to the presence of treffic at the coast station depends to some extent upon the equipment avail- able aboard ship. The traditional method is to include the ship's radio call sign in a traffic list which is emitted at scheduled times on pre-arranged frequencies. If the ship is fitted with radiotelephone only, she is called in the radio- telephone traffic list, but in all other cases she is called in a morse traffic list. The receipt of this information aboard ship is a requirement to establish communication and to obtain the traffic on hand. An automatic system of alerting can also be used with suitably equipped ships. Each ship is allocated an identity code which, when transmitted by the coast station, allows the identity code of the coast station to be presented in the form of a visual display. If the ship is fitted with radio- telex, a similar system of automatic alerting is used, but in
this case the system automatically sets up a two-way circuit with the ship.
A ship wishing to establish communication will decide which coast station is required and then the mode of communication and the frequency band. If the communication is to be by morse, the ship's receiver is tuned to the nominated coast station fre- quency and the transmitter is adjusted to a calling frequency. At the coast station a search operator scans the ship station calling frequencies and answers any ship heard calling, thus contact is established. Much the same procedure is used on radiotelephone. After contact, it is a requisite for the ship and coast station to move from the initial contact frequencies so as to leave them clear for other ships.
The Present and Future of Radio telegraph
The present service is provided by 46 transitters and 50 receiv- ers. Plans for the next few years envisage considerable expan- Sion with a new station at Burnham on Sea. This is planned to cope with the general growth anticipated in the HF Service. This paper has covered fifty years of HF communication and we are now at the beginning of an era in maritime satellite communication which, in course of time, will cause HF communication to die. Now that we have become so used to technological change, I doubt whether the story of the next fifty years will be as inspiring as could be told by those early experimenters who pushed back
the frontiers of knowledge.
— =] == [0 =<
Hertzian Oxcillator
| just to get in was considered an honor.
i the next | etc.
‘te personnel desiring to be CRM, This was the
‘Laboratory in Annapolis. |men was graduated each year,
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THE “KFS” EDITION
es
a J ty a o = co eo
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FRED, | Promise, |'LL BE A GooD CaPTAw),”
(eee ee
USN. WW2 HARDACKER
Until late 1942 the CHICAGO had equipment for |
sea Sonar search, It was unusual for such such large ships to have this type of equipment.
-~David C. Hardacker SOWP-3850; W7TO |
ex; W6PIZ - 1938
WPSAS = 1951 W6IT = 1967
For those not familiar with Navy radio terz- inology, Dave Hardacker has furnished the fol- lowing glossary:
A Radio Striker was a person just learning to be a Radicwan. In general he was a person who had gone through a three month radio opere- tore' school and had less than one year of duty aboard a ship. Dave believes a person had to have 18 months in the Navy before he was consid- ered for taking the exam for the lowest grade of} Redioman which was called RM3/c (Radioman Third Class). Above this there were two other grades, RM3/c would be expected to copy code groups about 15 = and plain text at 20 wpa. RM2/c,
step up, would be able to copy faster and would have more knowledge about procedure, RM1/c is the top of the line; can hold down any circuit, usually can copy something like WCX press (at some 35 wpm or a few words behind) jand was expected to be fairly Sharp at mainten- ance. He would be in charge of all the Radiomen in a ship about the size of a destroyer. Above
RM1i/c there was a rating of Chief Radioman (CRM)
who could do anything a RM1/c could do, must have hed about a year of schooling in redio maintenance, and is generally in charge of 4
e radio gang in cruisers, aircraft carriers, battleships, shore radio Stations, etc,
Prior to WW2 only one school was available
Advanced Radio Materiel School, Naval Research One class of about 30 This school was also used by the US Coast Guard and US Marines, The flunkout rate was extremely high: in ee vi
number of pervens? retired as RMi/c because | badn '
| had charge of a large number of ships. | Spoke
lor "Flag" Radiomen.
|'wes a Radioman. Period,
they vated from the school, In those/] days the terms "Radio Technician” and "Electroni Technician" didn't exist in the Navy; every one
The terms "Command" and "Commander" might be confusing to non-Navy people. Some ships were "Plagships," i.e.,they carried an admiral aboard | who did not have charge of the ship but rather When one of "Commander Cruiser Scouting Force," for
ple, everyone in the Navy knew which ship he had bis "Flag" on, and which ships he was in Such Command ships hed additional
i
charge of,
}circuits which really had nothing to do with the
actual ship. For example the ship call might be M, e the C call was for (for Com mamndier Cruiser Scouting Force), Radiomen man- ming such circuits were hotshots called "Command' They were assigned to the
Command or Flag, and not to the ship. In gener-
}@l @ Command ship had additional equipment, ad-
‘ditional Radiomen, and several Command circuits.
Traffic was sent from the various Command ships, @ach with ea specific call which was not a ship call, Traffic could also be addressed to the various ships in the command, e.g., NIFT NAKL MOOK NAGM v MS&J.
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The Huff-Duff was a type of high-frequency direction finder with scope readout used by escort ships in convoying to triangulate on Signals from U-boats and U-boat wolfpacks in tne Atlantic, in WW2. An escort group of ships with such equipment in three or more ships wes | known as being Huff-Duff equipped. An operati-— onal convoy with three or more of the equipments in three or more escort ships was known 45 a Huff-Duff equipped convoy.
ECM=eelectronic counter measures=jamming.
ECCMeelectronic counter-counter measures= something done to overcome the effects of jan-
jming, either technical or operational or perhaps]
both, | Spoofing=usually a type of ECCM, Something done to make the enemy think he was receiving valid traffic while in reality he was receiv-
fake information. This could be operational eit ar technical. There was also masses of dummy-coded traffic sent to someplace or some ship or Flag aboard some ship; there could be requests for many repeats on messages over cir— cuits that the enemy was jamming, while in real- ity the circuit had been shifted to another frequency, And So on.
Crypto=sCoding or uncoding messages.
Crypto Board=A group of personnel which codes and decodes traffic.
Crypto Machine=A machine with a keyboard like a typewriter that codes and decodes mess- ages, These are usually received in five-let- ter code groupS. Command ships carried ahigher | classification of crypto equipment than other ships. As a general rule only the Escort Com- mander in a convoy, the Crypto Board and mach- ine aboard the ship he rode in, could unscramble message traffic of certain content to the
convoy. er
Tek reel eee Ieee Ieee Secale meh Gemellol
SS. SEATRAIN HAVANA
A CASE OF NEAR HARI-KARI
In the summer of 1937 I did a hitch on the SEATRAIN HAVANA, one of three vessele which carried 100 freight cars from New Orleans to Havana to Hoboken, N.J, It was the first and only ship I ever was on which had a 115 VAC power supply.
The radio equipment was standard RCA geer of the period designed for use with 115 VDC. There was an AC/DC converter to operate the trans- mitters. AS I remember it the receivers were operated with A and B batteries,
This was the first vessel I had ever worked on which was equipped with the AAS (Automatic
and I believe, by Ward-Leonard,
One afternoon while slogging along the Gulf of Mexico I was taking my afternoon off-watch
| Snooze when ene alarm went off, Those of you h
who have been Shipmates with the AAS know that
the bell not only wakes you up but throws you ~ out of ran bunk and into the operator's chair, The bell also rang on the bridge and in the ce room which means that you got it shut off and on watch instanter!
It was as quiet as a tomb on 500 ke: practi- cally no traffic at all. After listening for several minutes I called WNU in New Orleans, also Mobile and Tampa, to ask them if there had
| been an SOS or auto-alerm signal from anywhere | in the Gulf.
All of them replied "NO,"
My next thought was to see what had set off the alarm; upon investigation I found that the rectifier system had gone kaput, and there was no DC for the AAS, What to do?
I knew it would be impractical to run the rotary converter continuously for the next couple of days: I just couldn't see staying on watch for the next 48 hours!
When I went in to dinner that night I asked the chief engineer what that rotary converter in the engine room was for. He replied that it supplied DC for the Sperry Gyrocompass in the chart room. I aSked him if it could stand an additional load of another ampere or two; he replied that he thought it would. After dinner I borrowed a hand drill and e small bit and drilled a hole in the bulkhead, ran a pair of
wires into the bottom of the gyro and hooked |
them up to the AAS. The little voltmeter went right up to 115, and when I closed the switch from the battery to the alarm bell it worked!
I sent a service message to RCA (or RMCA) in
New Orleans for help on our arrival there. The service men came aboard and tinkered with the rectifier; they couldn't get it to work either,
"Well, you got in here with your jury rig," the man said, "so take it back to New York the same way."
Upon arrival in Hoboken another service man came aboard and replaced the rectifier, after which all went well,
All of which goes to show that operators had to be able to make repairs and do things that were never called for in the license exams,
- Richard M, Jones (2751-P)
ad a dad Sad Seed Vad me ad a ll
EARLY US LICENSE- 1912 COS
QtAtTts Or Aken
OPERATOR'S CERTIFICATE OF SKILL IN RADIOCOMMURICATION
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| Alarm System); it was designed for DC operation _{ rovided with an electronic rectifier made,
4. | = ——"_A_
cas 2)
‘WOULONT—TT HAve BEEN JUST AS EASY
TO WAIT UNTIL WE DOCKED BEFORE TELLING
THe CAPTAIN WRAT YoU THOV6HT OF “THe WIRELESS EQUIPAENT (!
SH, Rm em Re em em i a mm mi mm i me mm mi me i eR : : f i wie = a.
Adventure
88 8 ee ee ee ee, ee ee
& Experiences of Profi
7 2 ee ee ee a ee
fessional Brass Pounders Around the World
28) 8 ee ee ee er ee ey er ey
Back to Index | , ITION
J ae
“EB” CADY'S STORY
CONTINUED FROM PAGE - ]
Early days at KFS
The receiving station was located on a high ridge above Daly City, California. The transmitting station was located on the marsh land of San Francisco Bay, in the City of Palo Alto, about thirty miles away.
KFS was originally built and operated by Federal Telegraph Company of Palo Alto, California. It became active in Marine Communications shortly after WW-I. Federal had the manufact- uring rights to the Poulsen Arc and KFS with its 25 KW arc ran up many long distance records with ships equipped with the 2 and 5 KW arcs.
A few years before I joined KFS, there had been a change in the corpprate structure of Federal Telegraph. They had moved their marine equipment and sales division to New Jersey. Their communication systems, including coastal stations etc., were operated by Mackay Radio and Telegraph Company, an af- Filiate of ITT.
As mentioned above, KFS receiving station was now located on
a ridge above Daly City. It consisted of two frame buildings about 300 feet apart. KFS' operating room was in the smaller shack. We had to call it a shack, of course, but it was quite larger than the quarters on shipboard. It housed the mana- ger's office and receiving equipment for the low frequency
arc receivers. At this time Mackay was handling domestic traffic between San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland and Seat- tle. Long wave arc transmitters were used. Posters in prominent business areas of the above cities read: VIA MACKAY RADIO 15 WORDS FOR THE PRICE OF 10. LOS ANGELES SAN FRANCISCO PORTLAND SEATTLE. WE WORK WHEN THE WIRES ARE DOWN,
The last sentence drew smiles from radio men who worked with transmitters 30 or more miles away connected by...you know what.
A HF POSITION AT KFS DURING WW-2 SOWP MEMBER CHARLIE KESSLER ON WATCH
KFS "IF" POSITION SHORTLY AFTER WW-2.
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THE SFARKS JOURNAL
Nistocical Letters
AFFUBLIC OF THE POILITPINES
Board of Gravel and Tourist Industry
REQUONAL OFFICE FOR WRSTEEN VISATAS
October 9, 1972
His Honor, the Mayor San Francisco, California United States of America
Siri
Sometime in October 1942, in the first year of the war between the United States and Japan, a crude radio transmitter operated by Filipino guerrillas in Panay, | Philippines, sent out an uncoded radio message intended to reach General Douglas MacArthur, then commanding all Allied forces in Australia.
The message was sent with not much hope that it would reach Gen. MacArthur. It was not even known if it could be picked up in the welter of radio messages natural at the time. Sut that message did reach Gen. MacArthur and started three years of communications which proved beneficial for the Allied war effort in the Pacific and and the Pilipino resistance.
We are engaged in the writing of this phase of our wartime history and desire to give due credit to Station KFS in San Francisco which picked up that first radio message in October of 1942.
We shall appreciate your kindness to refer this letter to Station KFS, if Station KFS still exists, 30 that we can get in touch with all KFS personnel responsible for picking up our message whose doing go had meant so much to us in those dark days of 1942 and continues to this day | to be a algnificant item in our history. Should KPS per- sonnel at that time be retired from the service today, may we request your good office to enable us to get in touch with them or with some of them? Please let us hear from you at your earliest convenience. Thank you very much.
Truly yours,
RODOLFO M. CLAPAROLS Regional Director
Board of Travel and Tourist Industry
Jesuary 10, 1973
ir. BE. EK. Cady
2330 Roosevelt Avenue
Redwood City, Califormia 94061 U. 3. ds
Dear Er. Cady:
Im his letter of December 24, 1972 in comectian with our letter, « copy of which is enclosed, Er. F. Ls Dicmne, samager, West Coast Corporations, ITT World Commmmications, Inc., cited you as one of the perscmmel of Radio Station KFS “at the time of first contact with the Philippine guerrilla forces in the Philippines is Goto bear ' lod =
We are sending pou the eolowed questionaire with the bope that you will be Kind to share with os what you mow and tell us about your ow personal participation: in the ewent which we comsider of the highest significance 4s our comptry's World Mar [7 history.
Noch is already mows about what cur
leaders did to Oring about contact with the United States. We propoews to ahed light on the as yet unrevesled role of Station DFS in it so that car history shall give Statice EFS end ite persecunel the credit which we believe they deserve.
Please do pot feel bound to answering the questions is the questionnaire which, after all, we offer only as guidelines. Should you find it convenient, write your version in amy mamper you desire. We eball display the Station KFS Papers at cur ausem is cur «city.
This may be quite a task for ome now in retiresent. We hope, however, you will pardes thie request which w= make in the interest of history and of truth.
Tour work will reach os at the above address,
sy rose Meh pe J, FF BGEB i jie ~ BODOLFO H. CLAPAROLS Regional Director EMC/nea Enclowure
This is the first time these letters, vital to the war- effort have ever been published. They document the part
the personnel at KFS, under the direction of Mr. Cady plays ed ina very “hush-hush" operation where the lives of many depended upon the expertise of the 'professional' operators and in turn helped to set the stage for the ultimate landing of General Mc Arthur in his return to the Philippines. America owes these men a deep debt of gratitude.
JE at Jet TO TS TO TT J TT TT J Ze
Ca i Jo Cm a er
Jin Jon J a, ee m2
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THE SPARKS JOURNAL
aaa ee eee ee ene ee ee Ne
“PG” Traffic
Well = it's true. Only a large communications company couid afford to operate a commercial coastal] station open to public correspondence. However, we did have our revenue traffic from the "love and kisses" type to the more lucrative steamship business and government.
We quoted our rates to U.S. vessels in dollars and cents. To all others it was gold francs and centimes. No one has ever rattled a gold franc in his pocket. It was a system of set- tling International Telegraph Tolls, worked out by the ITU.
The second building contained high frequency receivers for the Point-to-Point Division. HF circuits were operated between San Francisco, New York, Honolulu, Japan and Manila.
To me, the work at KFS was fascinating. High frequency was supplanting the long waves and by greatly increasing our areas covered, resulted in a corresponding rise in our traffic. It soon became apparent our hill top perch was not suitable for
Company headquarters occupied several floors in the Hobart high frequency antenna systems.
Building on Market Street, San Francisco. All PT to PT receiv- ing operators were in the main message center which occupied one entire floor. All domestic and foreigh signals were tuned in and piped up to them by PT to PT personnel at Daly City. KFS, of course, tuned and copied their own signals. Each unit had an order wire and a wire call, thus: Hobart Bldg - "HB". Daly City PT to PT = "DC". KFS wire call "SA". Transmitting station ~ "MX". On order calls, one could use any code that came to mind but all message traffic handled between KFS and HB was strictly American Morse. This Set-up between the re- ceiving and transmitting units, was basicly the same with all companies.
Mackay had been making tests of various locations and decided on a 230 acre ranch six miles south of ‘Half Moon Bay, Califor- nia. They were able to buy it. Building was started in 1932 and in April 1933 we moved in.
It was an ideal site on a high level bluff overlooking the sea. Plenty of room for a fine antenna system. The building was two stories with white stucco finish. KFS operating room and the station manager's office took up half of the lower floor on the seaward side, The rest of this floor housed the diesel emergency power equipment and shop for the heavier equipment for the riggers.
Tp?” | 8 PM TR Report The second floor was taken up mostly by the receivers for the point to point operators and a small portion for an electronic Now for some of the services our coastal stations rendered the shop where our receiving gear could obtain treatment when they ships sailing speedily and sometimes albeit, wallowing and stopped perking. rolling, their way across our mighty oceans. I am certain that all old time marine operators will remember the famous "TR". For those who may not have encountered this little jewel. it was a ship's 8 p.m. position report given in miles from its destination. It was handled absolutely free and appeared in the morning edition of the leading newspapers on the Pacific Coast. These little beauties began pouring in to the coastal stations about 4 p.m. The deadline was 8 p.m. when they had to be in alphabetical order and on the wire to HB.
As we sat at our receivers, we could look across the water of the deep wide Pacific. This was our happy hunting ground, from the Arctic to the Antarctic - across to the shores of the Orient and Asia. Also into the mountains and jungles of those lands, as we will show later on. The only change made in this move was the call of the point-to-point operating room. It now became 'LO,' everything else worked the same, only the wires connecting us became longer.
The decade of the 30s was a very exciting period. High fre- quency communication was progressing rapidly. Many explora- tion expeditions of remote areas of land and sea were in pro- gress. Aviation's greatest efforts to produce aircraft suit- able for long distance overseas passenger service. Many long and hazardous flights were attempted. There were inevitable disasters. All radio stations were alerted to keep close watch on them. The most colorful were the big dirigibles. It was a thrill to work these big air liners. The most famous was the Hindenburg. One might, May 6, 1937, I was working a HF shift. At 11:30 a ship on the East Coast called me and said: "The Hidenburg is coming down in flames over Lakehurst!" This was the end of the big dirigibles. Too dangerous in storms, too slow, small cargo and passenger space and it took 150 men to dock her at Lakehurst, At the same time, Panam was testing the clippers on the Pacific. They were too slow and too heavy but they were pointing the way. Better engines, lighter ships and larger air frames.
There was great rivalary between RCA and Mackay on these re- ports as each company was alloted space in the paper to fill. Operators who failed to get his little bird in his company's column got expert training in alibis. A potential source of revenue to a coastal station is the ETA message (estimated
time of arrival). With her position showing daily in the news- papers free, why bother with an ETA? This eventually led to the "Deep Six" for the TR.
"WX"
Another very important free service is the daily weather broad- cast. These are comprehensive reports, many taking up to 45 minutes to transmit and at least four broadcasts are made daily. Two hours of free press were transmitted by RCA and Mackay stations each day. Most stations have now discontinued service. These messages were given the same priority as dis- tress and delivered to a U.S. Public Health facility by the
most expeditious method available. During the many years I In the Fall of 1933, Admiral Richard Byrd sailed from Boston was with KFS, we handled many hundreds of these calls for help { for his Second Antarctic Expedition. He had two ships loaded which ran the gamut of every form of accident, injury, and with supplies and equipment including aircraft, snowmobiles, human illness. When it is realized that all the stations in ¢ dogs, cows etc. His crew eae all specialists in eer form the U.S. and most of the world perform this service, we can or another. He took the first radio broadcasting equipment see the tremendous value it is to the men at sea. to the Antarctic. He had arranged for a relay station in
South America to retransmit to Riverhead, N.Y. What broadcast- ing system it was I cannot remember. Radio equipment was not ta] " ¢ , what it is today and quite frequently his signals failed to SOS Calls | get through. In case that happened, a copy of the program was telegraphed to KFS prior to broadcast time and this was
Of course the continuous guarding of the distress frequency by used in lieu of the voice program.
commercial and military stations around the world, plus the
coverage by the ship operators, has contributed more to the I have forgotten to mention that Byrd was a shrewd bargainer
saving of life and property at sea than anything to be dis- and he had obtained an agreement with Mackay Radio to handle
covered since the days of the Italian Senator. all of the Expedition's telegraph messages - free of charge! This included the “love and kisses" messages from all his crew
Nothing else in the world will raise the hair on the head of to their families or friends scattered over all the U.S.! We
a radio operator, whether he has any hair or not, than that never knew such a relative few could send so many messages.
dreaded signal - SOS SOS SOS. Most all marine operators have It had KFS and The Postal Telegraph Company - just about snow-
heard it and a great many have heard it - and it was they who ed! However, it was a thrilling experience to have a ringside
were sending it! seat at the daily adventures of this Expedition. The Admiral and his ships, and men and dogs and cows returned in middle
In case of an SOS, the coastal station may be tied up for 1955.
hours. Involved in it or not, all radio transmissions that might possibly cause interference must stop until the QUM : comes out (Resume normal operations). I have seen distress “AT. incidents lasting nearly a whole watch. ae ch | | h |
Thi INU In reviewing the above free services, one could be excused if he had some reservations before selling the ranch and cattle to invest in one of these stations.
“sar eT YET SU Sn TT, Tn, Tce sss Sn Tn YT TT Py Pe Veen Yee vee Tene eee re aay Suey ony ae Py
ie PO Jat Ta Foe ee
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nt, en, ee, ee Pee ae Fa Fe eas Te
THE “KFS” EDITION
a ee ee
CADY—KFS
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25
By 1941 American Morse had just about reached the end of the track and our Morse circuit to HB was replaced by teletype.
No longer was it a requirement for our operators to be profi- cient in both codes. I had also been appointed Chief Operator and responsible for the operation of the station. Prior to this I had spent a great many watches on high frequency cir- cuits. It was during those watches that | began to realize the great coverage given by coastal stations around the world. In every maritime country, high powered stations scan the marine bands twenty-four hours a day. It never lets up - operators sitting at their receivers - tuning, listening and working ships all over the globe. The lights in the operating room of KFS have never been turned off since it began opera- tion. This is true of all the other major stations. I really do not believe it possible for any ship to ever be in a posi- tion where two-way communication with some of the stations could not be accomplished. Two-way instant communications be- tween the victim calling for help and the station answering, is the major factor for success. This is where the coast sta- tion stands out. If he himself can't help, he can rustle up the air and get help.
Receiving Equipment Used
Our receiving equipment in 1941 was mostly SX28 Hallicrafters. We stacked three of these receivers, one on top of each other, and ganged their tuning sections so that all three could be tuned with one knob. Using split phones, we could listen to two bands - one in each ear when cruising or one in both ears when copying. Our greatest asset was our excellent antenna system which allowed us to pin-point most sections of the globe. Antennas could be selected quickly by rotary switches at each receiving position. Multi-couplers allowed the use of three receivers on one antenna without noticeable attenuation to signals.
At our I.F. position were sure, has never tion. fhis receiver
we had a receiver, the likes of which we graced the bench of any other radio sta- was built by our manager, J.0. Watkins.
I am sure all of you old timers who were involved in electron- ics in the Palo Alto area will remember him. No finer qentle- man ever put on a pair of shoes and came out of the Sate of Oklahoma, or any other State - for that matter, than J.0.W.
He built this receiver some time during the 1950 period. It was about three feet long, 18" wide and 18" high. None of us ever had the time to take out all the nuts and bolts that held it together. So we really never knew what was inside. We were told it had three stages of RF on the front and two IFs on the output. Anyway, this old rig was as hot as two sticks of dyna- mite hooked in series! We had a single wire antenna, about a quarter of a mile long, and a spare, in case the antenna birds roosting on the long one broke it down. Of course, with all that soup on both the input and out-put - coupled with that long antenna - our old receiver brought in some other things too. During the 1940s the build-up of congestion in the fre- quencies allotted to marine communications, like the congestion on our highways - was threatening the life of our old receiver.
It could not be said that selectivity was one of its stronger points. However, by 1941 a reverse trend was very noticeable. The European war was becoming more bitter. 6ritish Empire Shipping was on radio silence, also Germany and Russia. Wolf packs of submarines and surface raiders, plus aircraft, were roaming the seas and the skies. Even neutral shipping was chary about opening up on 500 KHz. This band was quieter than any of us had ever heard it. Our old receiver was in her prime again.
Over in Palo Alto we had a block buster intermediate frequency transmitter. It was not a rack and panel job. The transmit- ter men called it a composite arranged transmitter. It was housed in a steel cage similar to one used by the zoo to hold a baboon. At first glance, one could not be quite positive that a baboon was not in there! Baboon or not, that transmit- ter could rustle some waves of its own over the surface of our big ocean. We called the old rig, Oscar. Of course there were times we had some other names for it. Like us humans, Oscar had its ups and downs.
PEARL HARBOR
On the morning of December 7, 1941, the day crew arrived at KFS. Outside the building it was 6 a.m. Inside it was 1600 GMT. All of our operations were made under Greenwich Mean Time. Wherever possible in this account it will be given in loca] time.
The day started and both high and low frequencies were very quiet.
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THE SPARKS JOURNAL
"<FS" IF position today. The blackboard with call- letters, reminds the operator these ships are close and should be 'tickled up' frequently on 500, lest they QTP without docking orders, etc.
The "HF" position at KFS of recent date,
At approximately 10:50 a.m. the operator on the 900 khz posi- tion heard a clear signal: "SSSS SSSS SSSS (submarine sighted) de SS Cynthia Olson." She gave her position in longitude and latitude which put her 750 miles southwest of Seattle, Washing- ton.
On December 6 at 12:01 a.m., the S.S. Lurline had departed from Honolulu bound for Los Angeles. She now was about 1300 miles southwest of San Francisco. She picked up the SSSS and acknow- ledged it to the Cynthia and said, "Is the sub surfaced?" Cynthia answered: "Yes .-... (wait) --SSSS SOS SOS SOS posn --" Her signals faded slowly away.
The Lurline made several attempts to contact the Cynthia. There was no reply. Nothing was ever heard of this little steamer, or her crew again. The Lurline then tried to contact NPM, Pearl Harbor, NPG, San Francisco, and NERK, collective call of any navy ship or station without success. The signals from
the Lurline/KIEK and the Cynthia Olson were clear and readable at KFS, KPH, and KTK. As a reqular procedure, they were relay- ed to Navy Communications, San Francisco.
While these events were taking place at sea, we all know what was happening at Pearl Harbor. If you need a refresher on this, read the article in Sparks Journal, Vol 2, Number 4 -
"A Rendezvous With Fate" by Lt Cmdr R.L. Simpson. He was there! KFS learned of the bombing a short time later - by what means I don't remember. Shortly after this the Navy gave KFS
a msg directing the Lurline to proceed direct to San Francisco. They also direct us to shut down our automatic identifying tapes on high frequency and for the time being to make no fur- ther transmissions, unless directed by the Navy. Many ships were in dangerous locations. The President Harrison was docked in Shanghai and the Standard 0il Tanker, J.C. Fitzsimmons, was in the middle of Korea Strait, in the Sea of Japan, bound for Pusan. Neither in what one could call, a cozy spot! Well - the Harrison didn't make it, that was the end of her. The J.C.
after some of the most spectacular dodging - made it home. The operator on there, if still among us living, could probably tell us quite a tale of that crossing. out of many hudnreds.
Those were just two
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THE “KFS” EDITION
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CADY-KFS STORY CONTINUED
Our merchant ships have always received their advisory messages warnings, etc. from their Country's coastal stations. Shortly these war warning messages began going out by our coastal sta- tions. For a short period, they came in clear language and advised each ship to put into effect "Plan (?)" immediately. This "Plan" was supposed to have been locked in the Captain's safe to be used in case of war. Included in the Plan were the War Calls of the ship and a code to be used instead of clear lanquage. Vessels not in convoy, in some cases, if sinking, or in life boats, could report their positions in the clear, but in no case the name of their ship. They could indicate enemy sightings by these symbols: SSSS -submarine sighted. RRRR -enemy surface craft. AAAA -enemy aircraft. QQQQ -mines. If any of these symbols were followed by SOS, it meant they were being attacked. Too many times this was the last signal ever heard from this ship. If they were lueky the next signal would be from their life boat. We picked up hundreds of these lifeboat distress calls. Before the war was over we tipped our hats to our old TRF 500 KHz receiver. It had been cursed and dammed many times when (RM was bad. Now it was simply incred- ible the distance this old box could reach out and gather in these calls for help. We had no way to keep score but we felt that many lives were saved by being able to respond to these calls and alert possible rescue operations.
————
When plain language was ruled out for advisory broadcasts,
five letter code groups were used. They were called BAMS and carried indetifying date-time groups and msg numbers. We never knew what BAMS stood for but we guessed Broadcast American Mer- chant Shipping, or Allied Merchant Shipping. Anyhow you fel- lows who were out on the drink during those days remember
those BAMS.
As the war drew on with radio silence in effect for all ships and all messages subject to censorship on radio station cir- cuits, the revenue of coasta! stations was non-existent. Many of them began to close. By middle 1942 most of Mackay Radio's stations were open, especially WSL and KFS - were running with a full staff. All frequencies were covered 24 hours per day.
Strange Signals
In late August 1942, KFS began hearing some strange signals. They made no sense but sounded like someone testing a small transmitter. They were very weak and according to our anten- nas, were in the area of the Philippines. Needless to say, we kept a sharp lookout on that section.
The events following are drawn from memory and may not be exact as to dates. The only remaining operators attached to KFS at that time were Paul Hillsman, Atherton, California, and myself. The rest are silent keys. The members who be- came silent keys down through the years were: Charles G. Bar- ton, Fred Czgavske, C.H. Kesler - SSGP95, William Mattes and Ben Springer.
Hillsman and myself have tried to piece the events together.
Toward the last of August, or the early part of September, Arthur H. Hart - 1068 SGP, one of the receiving operators in the point-to-point section, was tuning around looking for a Signal for his section. It was in the wee hours of the morn- ing. He ran across a very weak signal calling: WAR de KAA. War was the collective call of any army radio station, and KAA was the call of RCA's station in Manila, which long since, had been demolished. Hart told KFS what he was hearing and KFS tuned KAA in. It soon became apparent that WAR was not hear- ing KAA. The operator at KFS called the Communications Watch Officer at NPG, told him what was happening and suggested he tell the Army to alert the WAR transmitters that were on the air. Tell KAA to listen to KFS, we could hear him and read him.
We believe the Army did this, and KAA heard them, because he broke off calling suddenly - right in the middle of the letter E, as the saying goes. Nothing more was heard from him the rest of the night.
Contact with the Guerrillas
About 3 a.m. the next morning, we picked up KAA calling KFS on about 83.3 KHZ. Instant communication was established. The Navy had given us permission to work directly with the Army on this mission. The Army advised us to accept all communications from the station, acknowledge it and agree to another schedule, but to make no further transmissions on our part. The short QSO ran about as follows:
“KAA de KFS - "GM QSA 2 but QRK K" (your sigs are weak but we read you ok) KFS de KAA - "GE This is George Gould we are a bunch of querillas in the mountains of Northern Luzon we have a breadboard xmtr and recvr which we carry on our back. The Japanese are mostly
in the cities and along the coast but there are places
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THE SPARKS JOURNAL
TUL UU ISS 60/8 OSE 8 81s /@ 18) 8\-'@ eo
along the northern coast where it would be safe for a sub to land. We need everything. We want smokes but our direst need are shoes .. ._
de KFS "RRR QSU tmw?" (see you tomorrow?)
de KAA RRR.
This little message was the first word to come out of the Philippines since the occupation by the Japanese.
When General MacArthur, in his headquarters in Melbourne, Australia, was handed this small dispatch, he said it filled him with profound joy and hope. He now knew the Philippine people would battle on with him until the enemy had been driv- en from their shores.
Contacting George Gould
We found out - right now and in the three years we worked with them, that these army people would not accept the word of one of our Lord's Disciples, without iron clad corroboration,
They asked us if we knew this George Gould, We said: "Mackay Radio's Manila Manager was named Gould and we believed that this was him." No time was lost and very soon they contacted Gould's sister in the middle west. The next night they were down for some questions for Mr. Gould. They gave us the list and sat down to hear the answers.
KFS - "Do you have any relatives in the U.S.?" KAA - "Yes"
KFS - "Is this George Gould at the key?" KAA - "Yes" KFS then sent him the following questione - one at a time, and he answered them one at a time.
What is the name and address of your nearest relative in the U.S.? Have you been in contact with her? Was there anything in her letter that gave you concern?
KAA - "Yes, she said her daughter was quite ill. I was con- cerned about this and wrote her but no more letters came through." KAA de KFS: R QSU (Then we slipped one in) "Yr niece is ok." Army was satisfied and instructed us to maintain contact with | KAA. This contact with KAA was of very short duration, last- ing less than a week. In his last short dispatch he gave some more information on enemy distribution in Northern Luzon erd their dire need of supplies. He said his group had to keep on the move but to keep listening for them. This was the last heard from KAA. We learned later they had been captured. Same were executed and some were taken prisoner. Gould was among the latter and spent the rest of the war in prison camp.
There was a short period of silence. Then about 5 o'clock one morning, a very weak signal came calling KFS de WPI. We ans- wered and within minutes we were in business. We had another contact. The next step of course, was to run them through the wringer! WPI asked us to contact Fred Roebuck or Jim Chambers, as they could identify them. They also gave their location as Luzon. Fred and Jim were well known to us but we had no idea where to find them. By naming these two fellows, we felt sure that WPI was connected in some way with Globe Wireless. before the dust settled, we had this new dope up to the Army. The next evening two officers from the Presido arrived to spend the evening. One was Col. Irv Kauffman, who prior to the war was a radio telegrapher for Globe on their SF-Manila circuit. He was well known to all of us at KFS. WPI came in on sche- dule. We turned the key over to Irv. He sat down and said: WPI de KFS ditdada dit-dit?" The answer came right back: "DC ditdada dit-dit?" Kauffman said; "This is Irv." KFS operators, listening to this, thought Kauffman displayed a stroke of gen- ius in his opening remark. On point-to-point radio telegraph circuits, an operator wishing to know who was on the other end Said: wo? He always rendered the o in American Morse. If WPI had shown any hesitation in knowing what it meant, he would have been under suspect to start with.
It happened that DC and Kauffman were old friends. They chat- ted over a few office incidents in which both had been involv- ed, when suddenly Kauffman said: "What did you do with that motor bike?" DC replied: "We sent it back to the dealer." Only DC and Irv knew what had happened to that bike. Of course, that cinched it. It was many years later that we learned who DC was. Mr. William Phillips - SGP-1038, was manager of Globe Wireless in Manila at outbreak of the war. At one of our luncheons, Mr. Phillips told me that DC was an operator in his staff on the Manila-San Francisco circuit. His name was Domi- dor Caluen. 6ill said, Caluen was very active in the querrilla movement and was capable of building equipment out of anything he could beg, borrow or steal - even the tin cans off the junk heap! Bill himself was involved and I am sure he could write us a little article that might raise a few sparse hairs on the heads of some of us spark gap pioneers!
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| CADY—KFS STORY CONTINUED
This short exchange between Caluen and Kauffman identified WP] and we began two way communication. They were more valuable than any of the stations we worked, before or after. They continued to give us areas where it would be safe to land subs, The military took the attitude that these areas, sent out in plain language, would be locations they would keep well clear of! They advised WPI to be cautious.
Several years after the war, Hillsman met a lieutenant from Leyte who had been with WPI. In talking over some of the hap- penings, he asked Hillsman if he was the quy: "Who told me to shut up?" We maintained nightly contact and received consider- able information of distribution and number of enemy troops in the Luzon area. A valuable report was of the fine morale of the Philippine citizens under enemy control. Our contacts with WPI suddenly broke off and we heard no more from them.
Uf necessity, our contacts with the guerrillas were short and terse. They were in great danger with every tap of their key. They never gave any specifics of their exact location; numbers or anything that might give some help to the enemy in their search for them. We never asked them any questions. We made every contact as short as possible. So, when they ceased to contact us, we had no idea what had happened.
I am now going to quote from a book which will explain, from the Philippine end of the line, what happened to bring about a complete change in our communications with the guerrila forces. I believe it is more interesting to hear it from their end be- cause that is where the action was.
Dr. EDMUNDO REYES
The title of the book is: A History of Amateur Radio in the Philippines. It was written by Dr. Edmundo Reyes of Manila.
It is a very interesting book for all Amateur Radio Operators. Dr. Reyes is not only a practicing physician, but is an avid ham. His call is DUIOR. He is also a TA (Technical Associate) in our Society of Wireless Pioneers. He has given me permis- sion to quote from his book.
On page 65 he says: "...So0on after the retreat to Bataan, my brother who belonged to a guerrilla unit requested me to don- ate two transmitters for the use of the USAFFE. Following in- structions, I placed at their disposal my rack and panel 150-W rig (the one from M. Carson, KAIMD) and a QSL-40 type homebrew low power portable, together with a 300/220 mil M.G. designed to be run by 12-v storage batteries." Dr. Reyes then relates that after the fall of Bataan the Japanese confisicated all of his radio gear. He then built from "junk" a receiver with which he could hear KGEI (The Voice Of America). This was their only contact with the outside world. Dr. Reyes resumes with a chapter titled: “THE FALL OF BATAAN"
EBEN K. CADY—MR. “KFS”
RECENT PICTURE OF “EB’ CADY WHO SPENT OVER A THIRD OF A CENTURY AT “KFS”, FIRST AS OPERATOR THEN AS MANAGER OF
THIS WELL KNOWN STATION, HE HANDLED HUNDREDS OF SOS AND EMERGENCIES DURING TENURE AT KFS BUT THE ONLY ONE HE PERSONALLY PARTICIPATED IN WAS THE SOS FROM THE STEAM- SCHOONER WILLAMETTE IN 1922, HE IS
4 Fig n
UTHOR OF THIS STORY,
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WHEN CORREGIDOR FELL
"On April 9, 1942, Norman Reyes made his valedictory broadcast from Corregidor and announced that Bataan had fallen. Most of us with headphones on our ears, sobbed and cried like children when we heard Norman finish his great epic...
Now our only ray of hope came from William Winter in far away San Francisco (KGEI) whose broadcasts we religiously listened to every evening. Like never before, now we really felt for- saken, perhaps forgotten. But no, Winter with a clear reassur- ing voice was giving us the kind of news we hungered for...we took notes of the news every day and handed them to others who did not have receiving facilities, or merely told them at lunch time. Frank Swan, our last Philippine Amateur Associa- tion President, was interned at St. Joseph's Hospital only a few blocks from my own clinic. He had me called almost every day because of his throat. (Ever since I met him, he had a hoarse, "smokers" or "preacher's" throat; outside of that, nothing was wrong with his throat.) The visits consisted in discussing the latest views and news."
Dr. Reyes then gives several pages of interesting accounts of the Japanese occupation in Manila. On page 71 he says "I shall now end this report of liberation in our area, and shift the reader's attention to some interesting narrations of the Japan- ese occupation in the provinces with special emphasis on war- time communications with America and Australia." He then quotes an extract from a book "THE WAR IN PANAY" by Jose Doro- mal: "In late 1942, a conference of the reorganized 61st Divi- sion decided to organize all the Visayas Guerrilla Forces into
a single coordinated command...the new command was designated as the IV Philippine Corps...covering the islands of Panay, Romblon, Tablas, Masbate, Negros, Cebu, and Bohol.
Lt. Col Marcario Peralta, Jr. assumed command of this unit and designated Capt. Amos Francia, former Divisional Signal Officer of the Panay USAFFE as his Chief Signal Officer.
By the end of October 1942, a transmitting set assembled from spare parts stolen and smuggled from the Japanese occupied Iloilo City was ready for testing and was tuned on the 8.3 me band by Capt. Francia and his team and was operated by Lt. Mariano Tolentino, Incentes Donesa, Salvador Nacionales, and Ismael Vito.
KFS contacts WPM
They transmitted "Free Panay Calling de WPM", repeatedly and before long, their signals were picked up by station KFS in
San Francisco, which immediately replied and established test Signals. Immediately Col Peralto transmitted several long plain language messages intended for General MacArthur and for President Quezon...KFS promptly acknowledged the messages and relayed them to the War Department and to President Quezon, without sending any further reply. The reason was that the
War Department did not know whether WPM was coming from genuine guerrilla forces or were decoy signals sent under instructions by the Japanese. Therefore, KFS subjected WPM to a veracity test and instructed them to find KAZ (Gen. MacArthur's Austral- ian Command on 8.3 MC band). Hereafter no more plain language communications were permitted lest they betray information of military value to the enemy.
Peralta had saved the Signal Corp Device M-94 but this code was useless unless a key word known only to both parties was employed. In order to establish the key word with the minimum risk of enemy interception, and at the same time test the au- thenticity of the Free Panay station, the War Department sent Peralta a coded radio message accompanied with the following instructions sent in plain language:
Break the coded message using as key word in com- bination cipher device Mike nine four (M-94) fol- lowed by double transposition the name of place where President Quezon and Governor Confesor last dined tooether.
THE “KEY” FOUND
The search for these key words lasted almost one month because Peralta's courier to the HQ of Governor Confesor in Negros Is- land was suspected of being a spy and thrown into jail for not speaking Fluent Visaya (he was a taglog). Peralta did not know the name of the spot mentioned in the message from the War De- partment. He and his teammates tried several names of places but these were the wrong words. Peralta was almost desperate until a G2 Officer from Negros whom Major Francia questioned
if he knew the place where President Quezon and Governor Con- fesor last met each other. The G2 (Lt Ykalina) answered that
it could be "Panubigan Estate' in Negros since he knew that
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THE “KFS” ECITION
—KFS STORY—CADY—CONTINUED— that was the last place where the President had met Senator Ramon Torres of Negros and probably Governor Confesor too.
Major Francia applied the word 'Panubigan' as key word to the M-94 and it proved to be the right key word."
To continue with Dr. Reyes account --- Thereafter exchange of messages between Panay and Australia became practical and re- sulted in the delivery by submarine of much needed supplies in the form of rations, arms and amunition, and portable sig- nal equipment, medical supplies, and cigarettes.
The solving of this puzzle was turning point in the resistence movement, It brought a ray of hope from across the seas which time and again revitalized the spirit of those who remained loyal to their country in her darkest hour.
The first coded message was in itself worth all the painstaking effort to decipher it:
TO PERALTA CAN YOU RENDEZVOUS A SUBMARINE QUERY IF SO NAME FIVE CONTACT PLACES IN ORDER OF PREFERENCE
The preceding article by Jose Doromal relates, in very conden- sed form, events happening to the guerrilla war from October 1942 to December 16, 1944, It is related here because it clears up some aspects which were puzzling to KFS. Apparently the sudden two weeks of silence separating WPI and WPM was caused by the reorganizing of the guerrilla forces in Panay. Also we did not know where that M-94 came from.
KFS operators believed that WPM was camped on our frequency when making that call because he responded instantly when we answered.
The signals from WPM were better and he could send quite rapid- ly. He lost no time with several lengthy messages dealing with the morale of the people under Japaness occupation, a concise report on the disposition of enemy troops, an estimated number in the Visayas area, and a plea for supplies of food and am- munition.
The entrance of WPM brought a well-organized group of guerril- las and reliable two-way communication with the United States. But its usefullness was seriously endangered by the necessity of transmitting all dispatches in clear language. It was learned that WPH had in their possession a coding device but were unable to use it. They lacked instructions and the code word to set it up for two-way operation. This brought to the officers in charge of the mission the necessity of making an
WPM RESISTANCE TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER
Riq built by Captain Amos Francis and Lt. Nacionals. Receiver, carls RCA Communications Superhet. Set was suceessful in contacting KES in San branciseo and KA/ tt Australia. Hessages relayed to General MacArthur via KA/ and to President Quezon, Washington D. C. via KID.
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extremely dangerous decision. Could they instruct these people, somewhere in the Panay area, how to use the device with the necessary code word - in plain language - without the enemy also working it out? It is inconceivable that the Japanese were not monitoring all of KFS's transmissions.
However, the mission was of such vital importance to the war in the Pacific that the military decided it was worth the risk and we were handed the message which appears in the quoted article from Doromal's book. It was transmitted at once with the coded message and instructions: that no more transmissions be made in the clear.
A long period of frustration followed. Peralta, nor anyone else in their group, could come up with the word, Many futile quesses were made and with each failure they became more and more despondent.
THE USCG TAKES COMMAND
In the early part of December 1942, some changes were taking place involving KFS. The U.S. Coast Guard had completed nego- tiations with Mackay Radio fer the take-over of operations of the marine stations receiving sections of WSL-New York, KFS- San Francisco and KEK-Portland, Oregon.
The KFS marine operators were: Charles G. Barton, Eben K.
Cady - SGP-54, Fred Cezgavske, Paul Hillsman - P-505, C.H. Kesler - SSGP-95, William Mattes, and Ben Springer. All of us, with the exception of Czgavske, joined the Coast Guard. We were given Chiefs ratings and assigned our regular KFS posi- tions. As 1 was chief operator, I was made Chief Radioman in charge. Al Holgerson - SGP-173, better known on our nets as W60FL and his assistant, Rene Gaspar were the technicians who kept our equipment perking.
During these negotiations, we continued to keep in contact with WPM. Despite the Army's ban on plain language, WPM did complain in some very plain language about no word from head- quarters. All we could say was: keep trying.
“MAGIC WORD”
My memory may not be 100% on this but I believe it was in the latter part of December 1942, a coded message came in from WPM. It no sooner hit the desk of the decoding officers than a whoop of joy went up! Those brave men hiding in the jungles of Panay in peril of their lives with every move they made and with every dit and dash they sent, had come up with the magic word. The message decoded perfectly.
Now the value of communications could be realized and traffic began to roll.
General MacArthur had constructed a radio station in Brisbane, Australia, using the call KAZ. They had been calling WPM be- fore notifying us and we didn't know who they were. Whether WPM heard them or not, he did not answer. 900n, however, we were instructed to inform WPM that this was MacArthur's station eeatele and they should make contact which they eventually did.
Traffic now began to roll to both KAZ and KFS. KFS became U.S. Coast Guard Radio Station KFS. We were a unit in their Air Sea Rescue Communications Net. We were directed to continue working with the Army on the Philippine mission.
January 1, 1943
During January and February, guerrilla contacts in other parts of the Philippines increased and of course, so did the traffic. Because many of these messages involved contemplated submarine landings, it was vital that all messages be copied correctly and transmitted to the military as quickly as possible. As
the war drew on, more guerrilla contacts were made and these had to be closely monitored. Some of them were not on our side! The fighting in the Pacific was reaching a bitter tempo. Our Coast Guard duties were increasing as the Air Sea Net was being extended to reach from Nome to Panama. A lot of things can happen ina line that long. Yes sir!
The Coast Guard augmented our crew by their radiomen but there were just so many we had room for. We felt that KAZ could re- lieve us of most of the load but we got a jolt on this! Wash- ington wanted KFS to copy all traffic handled between KAZ and the guerrilla forees. Both ways! This would really hinder our Coast Guard work and a great deal of our chores dealt with dis- tress.
THE ARMY MOVES IN
Someone got the picture. May 1, 1943 we were notified that the Army would send down their own men with receiving equipment. Arrangements had been made with our transmitting station for transmitters. The equipment arrived; receivers, keys and tele- types. They were placed wherever there was a vacant spot. The
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room was already full of men and equipment and finding a vacant spot was no easy task. I am sure KFS technician, Al Holgerson, would be willing to sit down and sign an affidavit that I tell the truth. One had to pick his way carefully, lest he get tangled up in cables on the deck and other things. Three op- erating positions were set up and on May 21st the operators arrived. These operators had been trained at Fort Monmouth to copy five letter code groups. They squeezed their way, shoul- der to shoulder with us. Within a few days they were ready to take over. If they ran into any snags, help was not far away; just a few inches to be exact.
By this time the Philippine Net had been developed into a smooth coordinated circuit, covering the Panay and Mindanao areas. I cannot remember the call letters of all of them. On April 30th, a submarine had arrived off shore of Pandan, Anti- que, and very shortly afterwards signals from down there in- creased in strength. Many submarine landings were made in the Panay and Mindanao areas and possibly in Luzon. Tons of need- ed supplies...arms, ammunition and medicine landed. Quite a number of Americans evacuated to Australis.
Our Philippine circuit continued until December 16, 1944 with the liberation of their country.
Thus ended what one of the military officers described as the outstanding espionage of an entire country under enemy control- to come out of WW-2. How these brave forces, in constant dan- ger, were able to accomplish what they did is miraculous!
General Mac Arthur had asked the guerrillas not to engage in acts of violence or sabotage. He said this only brought repri- sals upon the citizens and increased enemy efforts to capture the guerrillas. What he wanted was information. And this is what he really got.
RETURN TO STATUS QUO
On January 1, 1945 the original KFS staff members were given Honorable Discharges from the U.5. Coast Guard. KFS soon re- sumed its role as a U.S. Commercial Coastal Radio Station
open to public correspondence. It is still there in the same place, doing the same things. Like all other coastal radio stations around the world, it has responded ta catls for help of every description but never before had any of us fellows ever answered a call for help from an entire Nation. KFS was able to answer this call and provide communications which not only brought them aid but gave them a means through which they could make great contributions toward their own liberation and to the eventual winning of the war in the Pacific.
KFS received a great deal of help from the "Up-stairs" men at the Mackay station. Among those who are still alive and kick- ing are: C.R. Ferguson, of Half Moon Bay; Arthur Hart, of Mena, Arkansas; and Al Holgerson, Half Moon Bay, better known as W60FL (old fog lover). These fellows are all SOWP members.
Two other members not associated with Mackay Radio 1 would like to thank for giving me a boost are: Frank Geisel, Manager of RCA's KPH, a stiff competitor of KFS, but a life-long friend of mine who alerted me about Dr. Reyes' book, and Thorn Mayes, Technical Adviser to SOWP, who had a copy of the book and loan- ed it to me. And of course, my thanks to Dr. Reyes and Jose Doromal for allowing me to quote from their books,
During my 34 years at KFS, I enjoyed every minute. When a per- son can earn his living and raise a family doing something ex- citing and enjoyable, he is a lucky cuss indeed!
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” REMINISCENCE OF AN OLD TIMER
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WY). a great outfit - SOWP!! | shoulda joined long ago - just too busy. | belonged to 10 other crganizations, mostly local, which kept me busy day and night while building a new house and starting a new business and unpacking boxes and boxes of stuff stored for the past 20 years or more while we traveled from country to country for the State Department.
| see so many familiar names in the member=hip - just in that last Yearbook. Tommy Nugent, who joined the Union
when | came aboard the California as an ARTA organizer: Viggo Henry Conradt-Eberlin, Ill, who was at the plant in Opa-Locka when | worked at WAX in Hialeah, Fla.; Karl Baarslag of the yacht Vagabondia and other yachts, still working to alert the country to the Communist menace; Fred Roebuck, who came aboard in Shanghai with the first Heintz & Kaufman shortwave transmitter in the Dollar Line when ! was Chief on the President Polk in late 1929. We installed it and worked Manila al! around the world until we got near N. Y. They took it off in N.Y. and installed it at Garden City, L.I., as a start for Globe Wireless inN.,Y.
Where's Joey Raspiller, my Junior on the Polk, who was later on the President Johnson and KUP? "Pete" Fernandez, Sup't of Communications for Pan American Air Ferries, who sent me out trip after trip ferrying 2-engine bombers to the Russians and RAF across the South Atlantic in wartime as Radio-Navi- gator, which was mostly Radio; was with Bennie Beckerman on the Jefferson of the Old Dominion Line to Norfolk between bigger assignments; Oscar T. Harrison, genial Junior when | was Chief on the maiden voyage of the City of Baltimore, Mac- kay's new radio contract with the Baltimore Mail Line for the
2 new ships, although the Line didn't last long; Charlie Hess, fellow opr at WSC when Tuckerton was the busiest station on 600 on the East Coast back in 1930; "Bill" Fenton, Chief of the Manhattan when | was 2nd with him on her first year, with Eddie Rocks "Roxy" as 3rd; Johnny Walter, 2nd on the new Washington with me as Chief, and later Chief when | finally decided there was no future in spending the rest of my life as Chief on the biggest ship in our Merchant Marine at the time - |'d never get married and would never find out what life ashore | was like. So! quit and went up to Maine to get a job ina lurnmber camp.
Life was all new and exciting after that. Dick Schell at WPR
in Puerto Rico when | was on WTA in 1927 - the New COAMO
of the Porto Rico Line, not the old one pictured In 19°79 Year-
book; Howard and Paul McElroy, who used to take turns ona freighter out of Boston for Hamburg, so each trip one brother
went to Germany for a bash while the other had a month off at horne, and then there was their brother, Ted, code speed cham- pion of the world; Charlie Maass was one of the group of well! | known oprs about that time which included Pickerill & Sinclair | of the Leviathan, Von Thun, Cerio, and Kennedy of the big
George Washington with her tremendous arc set, George Kolbe, Mike McDonough, Roxy, on those same ships like the America
and Republic, Ken Upton and Charters on the Pres Roosevelt,
Don Shaw of the America or Republic and later Chief on the
Pres Harding when ! was there and my Chief on the Minnekahda also; Virgil Comelius and many others of Unifruitco and other
ships who joined the ARTA when |! was New Orleans organizer before | turned the job over to Jim Croney . . . the list is
endless,
Although it is sad to hear of the passing of so many of us - we are still lasting longer than the ships - how many of the old ships are still afloat? Not many, for sure, even under Greek or Italian registry - most were scrapped or sunk long ago. Have many old steamship postcards to exchange with anyone who collects them.
--Don Thomas, 1340-P
Se et JNOTE: HERE | SIT ALL BROKEN HEARTED.. GRM HAS JUST STARTED./
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" KFS” EDITION
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THE
Robert L. Scheina
At sea, the captain and the law were synonymous. Martyrdom was the only reward for the individual who opposed injustice. This is illustrated in American
literature by Herman Melville's movel fully Rudd. However, the system could be challenged if here was
strength through numbers, and if leaders could be
protected by concealing their identity. | achieved by the “round robin.” Signatures on a griev- vee petition would .ippear vs a circular pattern ol
ribbons similur to the spokes of a wheel, The robin is derived from the French ruban, or ribbon, Hiding the identity of the leaders within the circle of signatures
may be the origin of the term “ringleader” as well.
Cong shore was in fuct as well as name, liberty, and sailors had the reputation of taking full advantage of the relaxed discipline. “Catting around" is a colloquial expression meaning trivolity. Richard Henry Duna wrote thal ‘cat’ used as a verb means “to hoist the anchor up to the cathead.” In order to raise the whchor, hickory burs were inserted into a cupstan, a spool-shuped cylinder; and like children on a merry- go-round, the men strained around this apparatus. This may be the origin of "“catting around,"
Mariners, beuy the eliel putrons ol scuport pubs, were often extended credit, A tulley bourd was kept of the pints atid quarts thal a suilor consumed, The quurtermaster of the ship, who was responsible for having o full crew for the next sailing, did well to remind his charges to "mind your P's and O's," since this equated to them consumption, And, of course, Ssidlors Wail Inever tay tionost flee dekh wath) “dhowes thie Pete TE st tener ec eer fem mri ty cade coliaol carved became wtoxicuted, he would be “three sheets to the wind.” A sheet us a line used lor trinming a sail to the wind. Tiree broken sheets would render any sailing ship uncontrollable, “Loaded to the gills," yet another nautial Capression reluting to drunkenness, infers that the individual “drunk like 4 fish.”
There are other expressions relating to relaxing of diwipliie on board ship, A number of these ulteranres huve lost both precise statement as well us meaning, Consider "Shake a icg." Originally “show a leg," this was the ery of the boatswain's mate as he turned out the new wateh on board eighteenth and nineteenth- eentury British warships, As an incentive to mariners not to desert, they were permitted to have wornen, ostensibly wives, on bourd while the ship remained in harbor. Showing a leg was a means of identification. The practice of having women aboard Royal naval ships was not abolished until about 1840. Not surpris- ingly, the end result of this accommodation was a "son of a gun." Below-decks in a warship were very crowded and the gangways (passageways) had to be kept clear. The only place where a woman could give birth was between the guns. Such circumstances were the subject of sea chants:
"Begotten in the galley and' born under the gun.
Every hair a rope yarn,
Every tooth a marline spike,
Every finger a fishhook,
And his blood right good Stockholm tar."
WU Tym Ten on Jo Te J J ee a a ee a
Immunity was
BY PERMISSION
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Originally, the term "son of a gun" questioned the legitimacy of the birth of an individual. Another colloquial expression which has unpleasant connota- tions is "flotsam and jetsam." Flotsam are goods swept overboard and floating in the sea. Jetsam are goods deliberately thrown overboard when a ship was in imminent danger. Thus, together they are the undesirable elements of society,
“Sh ¢ a leg a3
Utterances against the devil are wails of frustra- tion. However, the mariner’s devil was not the anti- Christ, but was a particular seam, a narrow gap between planks, one on each side of the ship just above the waterline. This seam--christened the devil's seam- -was the most difficult and dangerous to caulk. A
‘Sailor would have to be lowered over the side and work
in the dangerous location "between the devil and the deep blue sea." "There'll be the -devil to pay" has a similar derivation. Paying is the act of pouring hot pitch into a seam after. oakum has been pounded in, commonly referred to’as caulking. In bygone years, the complete utterance was "There'll be the devil to pay and no hot pitch"; thus, not only damning the work location, but also cursing the lack of preparation, since no hot pitch was ready. Caulking was a frus- trating job. Nerves became raw as the hot pitch was spread along the seams. A loggerhead was a tool used for thus work. Fights would break out, and the too! would be used as a weapon. The seriousness of the affair was captured by the expression that the com- batants were “at loggerheads." This term today describes an angry relationship between two individ- vals.
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The principles of sailing a full-rigged ship are as mysterious to some as those of splitting an atom. And yet, the English-language draws extensively upon the rich language barked out by captains and mates to sailors on deck and aloft during bygone days. A captain would be wise to give the order to sail “by and large" to an inexperienced helmsman (steerer). The ship would not be sailing directly toward its desired destination; but this command would not tax the ability of the helmsman. Colloquially, "by and large" means generally speaking, or lacking precise knowl- edge or skill. If the helmsman did make an error and the wind struck the face or front of the sails, the ship would be "taken aback." This term means to be stopped suddenly and bears the same significance today. Should another ship come between a vessel and the wind, that ship would block out the breeze and "take the wind out of my sails." Colloquially, this saying denotes that someone has been out-performed.
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“fmt down fo the war again, to the fonely ara amd the iby, And all I ask ws a tail ship and « ifar te sierr Aer by. *"
—Salt Water Ballads
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An expression more commonly used in "British" English than in the Yankee provincial form is "carry on." Recall the series of British movie comedies, Carry On, Nurse and Carzy On, Teacher. Aboard the square rigger, "carry on" was a specific order not to shorten sail, but to carry as much canvas as possible, A Yankee might bellow "fulj steam ahead," a nautical expression of a later era. An individual who "knows
the ropes" fads is unespadt whe knows whl take \ century-vid-a-lall ago, a ove suilot hnew Ho tere than the names and uses of the primary ropes, and his discharge papers were marked “knows the ropes." When the wind fills suils, a ship takes on a slight wehnaton of ist. Accorduygly, the only tine the sailing ship is mot listing is when there i no wind al ull and the ship becomes "listless." Today, the word
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means Cull or lifeless, On board a square rigger, to ask “give me some leeway" would be requesting the helmsman to leave adequate room between the ship and an object on the leeward side, Colloquially, this is used commonly to request room to spare. To an experienced square-rig sailor, the meaning of “it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good” is apparent, for a sailing ship mariner will curse the calm. But to iis way of thinking, a wind from any direction must be benefiting someone. William Shakespeare also appre- ciated this thought for he used it again and again with slight variation: "Ill blows the wind that profits nobody" and "Not the il! wind which blows no man to good."
The sea can be demanding and many nautical expressions have grown out of man's confrontation with the elements. To be “under the weather" bears its original meaning today. “Overwhelm” is derived from the Saxon whelmen, which means “to bury in heavy seas." Sailing ships are powered by the wind as it fills the sails. Should rigging break, a part would be carried away and control would be lost. When a person gets "carried away," he also loses control. If a mast should fall and pass over the bulwarks, the walls of the ship surrounding the main deck, it would have "gone by the boards.” As implied in the colloquial meaning, the mast would be irretricvable, Decisions aboard sailing ships had to be prompt: any order took time to execute. Sailing stups ising in poorly protected harbors were anchored with their bow toward the sea, for in bad weather they were safer at sea than pinned against the shore. [If a storm arose, the captain could give the order to “cut and run." The anchor cable would be sliced and the ship put to seu immediately.
The parts of a ship are often referred to in daily speech. Ornate “figureheads" enhanced the bows of most sailing ships: originally there to ward off evil spirits, as Sailors became less superstitious, the prag- matic value of this art gave way to its decorative appeal. Today, 4 person who is a "ligureheud" is also ornamental,
“cul and wn”
"Ritts" are two vertical beams through which the ship's wiehor cable passes. If all of the anchor cable were remove. Tit whith cemnwined on hone romney ee OU i ee re expression "| don't like the cut of Ins jib," wars to beware of a stranger. The jib is a triangular sail set in the stays of the foremast. Many regions of the world live reeoynivable wows of qutting: aol cag at pb, Clas eee ilies: ot Ses Mhentily.
Midway down the deck of a ship is a "booby hatch." Not found on many ships, this is a small opening used to facilitate movernent to below-decks. The evolution vf the current meaning has been lost. Deranged sailors were often confined below-decks and generally this huteh was the smallest and the Jeast used. These facts may have influenced the current meaning, a mental institution. Until a few decades ago, sailors slept in hammocks and only a lew officers on each ship had bunks. During the carly nineteenth century, before passenger ships were in common use, packet ships plyed regular routes, Packets were designed to carry mail, special cargoes, and passengers whose accommodations included small permanent sleeping berths known as “cribs.” Most cargo ships are equipped with booms, which lift cargo on board. When the loading is finished, the booms are lowered. Today, “lowering the boom" means to bring something to an end.
Continied ail bits Ped SC* ce sncsteecdententedees
PEPECTERBPECTEH ETHERS
UL ee ie ee ey ie a eee
7
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ie
THE “KFS” EDITION
* rT o A 7 i r cf i LJ] # t * ™ ————E ——
a
SHIPS"
Reprinted with permission of Surveyor magazine, American Bureau of Shipping.
Ob, ‘tis hemp and singing pine for to stand against the brine, — Rudyard Kipling.
Shipbuilding has also been the source of several common expressions to language. A beached ship, of one under repair, was considered “high and dry," much as the person who is out of his element. To ease the launching of a vessel, grease--in the old days lard--was applied to the runners under a hull, hence “greased the ways.” Now it means the path has been eased or
smoothed.
Sea warriors have yielded rich additions to our’ vocabulary such as the expression “no quarter,” a phrase meaning no mercy. During combat in medieval times, an officer could surrender and purchase his life for a quarter of his yearly earnings. The call "no quarter given" notified an opponent that the fight must be fo the death. Notwithstanding the superb marksmanship exhibited in the movies, sailing-ship cannon were effective only at ranges less than 50 yards; anything beyond that distance was considered to be a "long shot." Today, as yesterday, the expression means of great odds and is particularly associated with the race track.
The fisherman has also contributed to the rich nautical vocabulary. “Fish or cut bait" emphasizes that there is no room for the idler on these hard- working boats. Have you ever “taken the bait"? Once you have, you are "hooked"! And if you become more
‘. , or cut 4 care
deeply involved than reason would dictate, you have fallen “hook, line and sinker."
Most people have unknowingly adopted the lan- guage created by the merchant mariner to express quality and honesty. “A-!" condition tells that the hull--the A rating--is in superior condition as is the gear-the “one” rating. This system, created by the marine insurance firm Lloyd's of London is used by ABS in its shipping register Record.
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_ GREAT REPUBLIC - Launched 1853. =—— Pen sketch by Frank 0, Braynard - Author "FAMOUS AMERICAN
(Published 1978 by Hasting House).
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"Posh" accommodations were the most expensive available aboard the British P&O line, which sailed between England and India using the Suez Canal. The word, stamped on the ticket, was a composite of the first initial of the words “Port Out Starboard Home," This cabin arrangement placed the ticket holder on the shaded side of the ship for the entire voyage. This was particularly important as the ship passed through the boiling Red Sea.
Bills of lading are manifests listing goods entrusted to a ship's captain to be transported. The recipient of these goods would be a prudent man if he checked the merchandise to be sure that it “fits the bill.” And 4 ship's “bill of health" is a certificate signed by an authority stating the general health conditions.in, the port and on board the departing ship. A "clean bil! of health,” one without reservations, was highly desired. If plague were found on board, a ship would be “quarantined.” The first case of isolating a ship for this reason occurred in Marseilles and the vessel was held for forty days, or quarant in French; thus the evolution of the term quarantine.
“‘windfall”’
“Mark twain! was the cry of rivermen measuring the depth of water to determine if it was sufficient for safe passage for the vessel and is the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens.
Geographic names became synonymous with goods and events within the sailor's vocabulary, and have been borrowed freely. "Java" is coffee, the logical reason that during past centuries the island then called Java was among the primary sources of coffee beans. Have you ever been “shanghaied" from someplace? During the last centu®y, sailors found life so good in port they had to be tricked or bullied back to their ship.
Luck also has its place in nautical expressions. In past centuries trees could not be cut on specified tracts of land in Great Britain. These forests were timber reserves for the Royal Navy--a critical nation- al resource. However, if a tree blew down, the proprietor could use the timber for his own ends; thus a stroke of good fortune, or a "windfall."
World's largest Sailing ship.
ROBERT L SCHEINA USCG
No sed story is complete witht purstes, seed the language owes a debt to Machbeurd snd Henry Morgan who plundered the Spanish main tour hundred years ago. “Aboveboard," today meaning honesty, may have been derived from the pirate practice of hiding crews below-decks and trying to entice merchant ships to come close. Another method of deception enploycd by pirates, as well as by some ships of the line, was to “sail under false colors.” Today this expression is used to describe an attempted deception.
These pirates had few havens ashore where they could obtain supplies. However, many of the Carib- bewn ishiwds were papuluted by wild cattle and their meal Pee ie EMS Staple for the purates. Phe French word boucan is 4 grill tor Cooking meat. From this has evolved “buccanneer," or one who eats dried meat, Reealling Robert Lows Stevenson's character L cornge hwi Solver in Tredunnre Intact, cove’ cal) calitiarvt hewr nen refer to Jin Hluwkins us a “stinkpot.” Thus term well describes an incendiary bomb filled with combustibles used by eighteenth-century privateers. This infernal device was thrown or dropped onto the decks of an opposing slup. the intolerable stench and smoke filled the decks causing tumult.
On an evening when a breeze is soaring and the white waves heave high, think of other salty words and phrases that have added flavor to our speech and think too of the sailors who confront the seas and hope for a fair wind from the trades,
@ Robert L. Scheina
Robert Scheina, Ph.D. has been the Coast Guard historian since 1977. Before joining the Coast Guard's civpian force he worked for the Navy, first as a special research officer in the Historical Research Branch, Naval History Division and then as a senior analyst at the Naval Intelligence Support Center. During that time he received an Outstanding Perform-
} ance Evaluation and several letters of commendation,
Dr. Scheina has authored and co-authored numer- OUs publications, both government and non-govern- ment. In the latter category, his efforts include: co- | author, “Naval Craft," Encyclopedia Britannica, | 5th | edition; author, “Renjamnin Stoddert, Politics and the Navy," the American Neptune, 1976; author, "Mass
| Labor; The Key to Spanish Ship Construction during
the |6th Century,” The Mariners Mirror, 1971]; author, *"Seapower Misused: Mexico at War, 1866-48," The Mariners Mirror, 197); author, “The Forgotten Fleet: The Mexican Navy on the Eve of War,” The American Neptune, 1970; co-author, “Rattleships of the t).S. Navy 1886-1969," and contributing consultant to "Historia Maritima del Peru,” volumes for 1850 through 1875, and 1875 through 1920.
In 1976, Nob Scherna received his Ph.D, from the Catholic University of the Americas, Washington, NDC.
| He has ulso curned an M.A, from the University of the
Ainericas, Mexico City, Mexico, and a B.A. from Parsons College in Fairfield, lowa, He is a talented speaker, a5 well as writer und researcher, and is often requested to present programs on historical and current interest topics to government officials and civic proups.
eI ON I
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> 7 _ ° i reeeetnnennnnnnnentn nen ee ——— es __ Sat =
“GLEAMING THE OOK”
IMPORTANT TO MEMBERS~— PLEASE READ
S80 DUES PAID ?
Une of the best procedures we have followed in pest years was that of sending out our dues state- ments in blank, requesting members to process them and return without delay. We called this our "DO LT YOURSELF” dues procedure. We Nave found most members keep quite eccureate records hence c check on their dues atanding and remit with Little trouble. [nus we eliminate need to check eac imiividual eccount with statement to match - a very Lime consiming job «hich requires hours of clerical work.
During the sears ahead, Une Directors have established the following annual duces fer ond scchecul: at the meeting June 29 1079 duting business cession af Milbror, Calif, :
1980 - DULS SET Al $7.50 for this year only - the came you have been paying the last } years.
1961 - Dues have been established @ $10.00 per annum. A check for $17.50 will pay up for 2 year: (1980 and 198]).
$-YEAR INDUCEMENIT: The Society dues will remain @ $10.00 per year through 1981/83. If our
members so ¢iect, they can send a check for $25.00 to cover these three vears in advance.
REVE\UE: Since our publications contain WO ADVERTISING, dues are practically the only source of cevenue we have to fund publications and handle buginess expenses. We receive sone funds from wills and donations but the main dependable source must be by annual dues. Our dues have not kept pece with cost of living index and two major expenditures ( mailing and printing costs) seem to csculated beyond the normal COA index, We also try to furnish publications to “Hard- ship” cases - thooe who have Deen il] or whose small pensions have failed to reach. for this
e reason your donation ~ if you can wefford, will be appreciated. We realize that many are feelin: President & Founder ' the ‘pinch’ in theic low annuities, hence do not give unless you can really afford to. T.U.
William A.Breniman
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Should you wish to inquire about your dues standing, it can be very easily done. Simply send ut
. a STAMPED RCTURN ADORESSED ENVELOPE enclosed in your INREQ. Be sure to print your name clearly Our Wavelength is Brotherly Love and furnish Serial Number for checking. We will provide the information on your INREQ and retu: without dealy. [t might be noted that “ACTIVE” MEMBERS WHD HAVE PAID THEIR DUES THROUGH 1979 will receive the DIRECTORY/CALL BOOK when mailed - even in 1980.
Mi MBER LIFE-SUSTAINING FFE
Ihas feature wae sentioned on Page 31 of our lest JOURNAL ( PQ-17 Edition ). Many have already taken advantage of heaving a “PAID UP" life membership so you no longer have to fool around with ives. Likewise, it saves us a greet amount of clerical time. It might be noted that if your
dves are aiready peid up through 1980 or 1981] thet these payments may be deducted or sublracted
=
from the Lift ELE SCHEOULE in case you wish to take advantage of it. Fee schedule as follows: , WELCOME ~ 1980 St. SCP ...++++- $25.00 “PIONCER” ....... $100.00 Reqular Members and Technical SP acsctqececs » 50.00 "VETERAN" . . .. 150.00 Ansociated ....++. $225.00
A NEW DECADE ~ A NEW DEDICATION [0 SERVE |
. In case of severe inflation rates that might occur in the future, the Society does reserve tie . f he ty, then rittl might ’ oeee ® yanee OF oo TT ce Se seman at runic wna eon ; right to increase the rate/s to cover inflation costs based on (/L index of the Covernment.
, eady . As the year 1969 drew to a close, Allen Barnabei became member Vo. 590 on Dec. 31, 1969. Since then we heve added OVER THREE THOUSAND MEMBERS arat in g0 doing we have become the lergest professional organization of its kind in
CALENDAR ~- |9A0 Ee
Ihe Society's 1980 Calendar was placed in the mail addressed to every member on Dec. 12 1979 via
She worse. Third Class Bulk mail or to Canada and Foreign Countries via PRINTED MATTER. A few extra copies may be available for cost of mailing (about $.50¢) Send SASE so SO¢ may be returned if we run out
Hundreds thousands been he
ears sesewiaane ae eatlas aad eknwceminat. te Pack Gale ebeamteies Late Member James Doulas liaig (1856-S-SCP) who becume a “SK” in March 1977 was a gifted painter
ner preise is ele cae tah of what we have accomplished and should be and this calendar is from one of is water-colors in four colors. It is the Wireless Room on. th:
shared with all those who heve volunteered their time, service and talent in USS VIXEN to which he was ssaiqned beck in 1923.
any way, towerd the promotion and growth of the organization,
S enter the new ee. the Ligvty’s «ith sembers in reerily every country ELECTIONS = GALLO
of the world, Weutly ell except a few countries in Africe and the iron
Curtein erees of the Cast ere listed in our World-Wide Roster which will be A alete of Officers and Board of Governors hes been worked up and presented by the Nomination's
published shortly in our Directory. Committee which carries its endorsement. Sallot will be sent to all qualified members and will be mailed shortly. The date for returning of Ballots of Feb. 1 1960 has been extended to Feb. 15
When the Society wea founded, the primery objectives, based on the tenant of 1980. You cam vote anyone of your choice. Please mark and return addressed ATTENTION — BALLOT
the founder and associated charter members was one of promoting fellowship TELLER. Prof. Werbert Scott, Secretary has agreed to act in this capacity. Please address to
end freternalias asong those in the craft. We heave come to realize that we HO ( PO Eox 550, Santa Rosa, CA 95402).
ere bound together by « common-interest that insures this gosl es personi-
fied by the growth of cut orgetiretion. Many of ys who have watched the COMING PUBLICATIONS
Seciety develop now feel thet es « non-profit cel Hele, tr whose roots are
deeply planted in the scientific and » thet the recording of It may be noted thet certein requler features have been celeted from this issue of the JOURNAL.
the history of Communications in general, with epecial exphesis on the redic Treee include all date and statistics sbout our sembers, ie New Members, Silent Keys, Changes of
-telegreph mode as it relates to Hertzian waves should be our first priority. Adérees etc. Alaco included in the list is the Society's SLOP CHEST, CHAPTER & AMATEUR NET NEWS,
The Officers and Directors of the Society who met on June 21, 1979 con-
curred in this chenge of philosophy in programs, priorities and plans. These catagories of information will henceforth be included in THE SKIPPER'S LOG (Smooth copy) These will be furnished ell sembers periodically, perheps two or three times yearly. Much of the
During the past years we have received many Scientific and Historical papers format will be a repition of the SKIPPER'S LOG ( Rough Lag) now being furnished CHAPTERS & NETS
submitted by members who have been lesders in the field of communications for their information on a monthly besis. This will eneble all members to keep their Directory,
and whose names ere known throughout the world. Some of these papers have Call Books etc. up to date. It will also carry net schedules, and details about all Slop Chest
been given et Chapter meetings and a oumber published by the Society. We
items. C ter news and Directories will also be cerried in more comprehensive detail than the ps Neve @ good backlog of very meaningful documents in our archives cataloqued ae . i: : ,
for early use. Incidentally - the name of our SPARKS JOURNAL will not be changed to WIRELESS JOURNAL until a later date. We will continue it as a Y for the present. [This will give us added time to
Many members have submitted “Episodes 4 Experiences” of the early days and
en subjects that will be of interest in the years shead. We must preserve ee coming Directory/Call Book, Wireless 4& Marine Almanac and SPARKS IV, all now being this memorabilia and these historic records for posterity. : | would like to take this occesion - es 1979 draws to ea close, to thank each QLep ee SA end every sember who hes held office or who has helped the Society IN ANY WA) We worked up copy for the DIRECTORY/CALL BOOK during 1979. However, he hed so many changes of for their effort and interest. It hes been appreciated by us all. Likewise address, New Members, etc., that it became practically ‘outdated’ before he hed @ chance to print looking to the future ... CHEERS AND APPLAUSE to new officers who will be it. We have now completely updated the CALL BOOK section (Thanks to John N. Elwood) and making the Society. We wish them strength, quidance and inspired leadershis necessary chenges in ouf Virectory, etc. This long awaited publication should be out in January. One thing we will not worry about---thet is the loyalty of our wonderful We suggested previously that you retain Vol. 2 No. 3 ( Glass Arm Edition) as it contains many weebership. changes of eddress, new members, silent keys etc. for reference. We are hopeful our record system can be converted to computerization with the use of ‘printouts’ that would provide instant Thanks and best wishes to «= data in the future. [his will toke care of the obsolescence and rapid changes which is hard to . cope with. The conversion will be quite expensive but we think it will be worth the cost. ’ aha tan A, ecentaah wong WALL CERTIFICATES FOR NEW MEMBERS a ee Certificates have been imprinted for all members carrying SOWP SEFIAL NO. 2925 to 3319. They
will be processed and mailed in the very near future.
THE GREAT WHITE FLEET FAMOUS AMERICAN SHIPS PLEET (New Revised and englarged edition) FRANK ©. BRAYNARD, author. HASTINGS Author John H. Melville's HOUSE PUBLISHERS, INC, 10 East 40th St. New York 10016. Price $12.95
book on Ships of the The limited space here does not allow us justice in reviewing this very United Fruit Co., was fine book. Frank Braynard is not only the leading expert on American reviewed in our last Shipping but he is an outstanding illustrator. His pen-and-ink drawings issue. of the ships featured are superb. The stories are told with a wealth of It might be of interest of members that the author has a detail: there are anecdotes, snatches of song, and bits of forgotten lore. few books at home he will sell SOWP members. The price We recomend it most highly to all those interested in Ships .. especially tab is $7.95 plus postage. This is a very interesting American ships. You will never go wrong with a book Frank Braynard has book and we think it will become a 'Collector's Item’. written and published. " See JOHN H. MELVILLE, 1080 SW 2nd St., Boca Ratan, FL ye have several other reviews which space did not allow to publish in this
issue but will be included in our next issue.
Few things cre as bad as enthusiastic
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THE “KFS” EDITION
Digital Media © K2TQN 2012
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Sea Lauguage Washes rtshorg
ROBERT L. SCHEINA
The rich colorful vocabulary of the-sea from gener- ations past is still a vibrant part of daily English language. Most persons do not know the_origins of words and phrases that have become colloquial expres- sions, and time has changed or distorted the meanings.
What were precise directions or descriptions have become general phrases that hint at meaning. Yet, they retain the flavor and imply the discipline they once had--and the language of the sea emphasizes discipline. Going to sea--whether for sustenance, transportation, or war--was not a carefree business. The late . dean of American maritime history, Samuel Eliot Morison, chastised the poet Allan Cunningham for his ballad:
"O for a soft and gentle wind! I heard a fair one cry:
But give to me the soaring breeze And white waves heaving high."
-
Morison wailed, "Baloney! No real seaman likes high
and heavy seas because they bring trouble and danger.
His ideal is the trades--a good steady full-sail breeze "
Discipline has always been demanded by the task- masters of the sea. "He let the cat out of the bag,"
REPRINTED FROM "PROCEEDINGS" OF THE MARINE SAFETY COUNCIL AUGUST 1979
said today, is often followed by an expletive deleted. Six score years ago on board a square rigger, this utterance would have brought chills to the spine, for some poor soul had just committed an offense suf fi- ciently grave to extract the cat-of-nine-tails from its canvas bag. The cat has been out of vogue since the early nineteenth century and needs an introduction. The cat was made of nine lengths of cord, each about 18 inches long with three knots at the tip, fixed to the end of a larger rope which was used as a handle. Flogging, at the very least, would cause severe wounds and could cripple or even cause death. Only Errol Flynn and fellow Hollywood mariners have been able to shrug off its effects. The United States Congress prohibited “the use of the cat in 1850, and it was outlawed from the British Royal navy in 1879. In fact, the cat had fallen into disuse in both fleets shortly after the War of 1812. The brutal instrument is also the basis of the expression "not enough room to swing a cat.” Obviously, the two-foot cat, added to the length of the fully extended arm of the flogger, required a good measure of working room. A sailor's misdeeds were recorded daily, and punishment was carried out on the foflowing Monday; thus, the birth of the expression "blue Monday.”
THE SPARKS JOURNAL
Sailors were considered a rough lot and not to be trusted by their superiors--the officers. Although armed to the teeth when the enemy was at hand, sailors were prohibited from having weapons at any other time. The one exception to this rule was the knife, for this was an essential tool for all seamen. Should, however, the sailor draw his knife in anger, he could lose his hand as specified by British Admiralty law--thus, the derivation of the expression "hands off."
Maritime discipline was harsh; human rights were restricted and, as a result, specific shipboard havens developed. The term "scuttle butt" evolved from this background. There was a cask (butt) with a square hole (scuttle) cut in its bilge, kept on deck to hold water for ready use. On board ships where discipline was strictly enforced, merchant as well as war, the "scuttle butt" was one of the few places on deck where sailors were at jiberty to talk; and, today, the term is synonymous with gossip.
Discipline was the ounce of prevention in combat- ing the ancient mariners' greatest fear--fire at sea. Today, "the smoking lamp is lit" frees an individual to "light up" wherever he might be. This interpretation does not bear the severe restriction originally intended. For aboard ship, this lamp was the only place where the sailor had access to fire, and the tobacco had to be smoked in its immediate vicinity, usually the galley (kitchen). To protect the weak- willed from the "cat," sailors were not permitted to carry flint--the match was not in general use until the middle of the nineteenth century. As iron and steel replaced wood as the primary building material for ships, additional precautions against fire were enforced on vessels carrying dangerous cargoes. For example, mariners were prohibited from wearing shoes using metal nails. A spark in the magazine of a warship or the hold of a merchantman loaded with nitrates or gruins could be catastrophic,
CONTINUED ON PAGE=- 29
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PAID AT SANTA ROSA, CALIF.
Newsletters from the Society of Wireless Pioneers, founded 1968 ~ Dedicated to the History of Seagoing Wireless Operators ~
Special thanks to the following for these documents: Key [SK = Silent Key, SGP = Spark Gap Pioneers, P = Pioneers, | V = Veteran, M = Member, Sparks = Worked at Sea]
(SK) Ed Raser, W22ZI, Radio Pioneer, Sparks, SOWP #35-SGP (SK) Bill Gould, K2NP, Radio Pioneer, Sparks, SOWP #565-P (SK) Matty Camillo, W2WB, Sparks, SOWP #750-SGP
(SK) Dare Robinson, WB2EVA, Sparks, SOWP #2284-SGP (SK) Ray Brooks, K2LTX, Sparks, SOWP #1387-P
Olive Jesse Roeckner, VAGERA, Sparks, SOWP #2891-V Spud Roscoe, VEIBC, Sparks, SOWP #2301-M
David J. Ring, Jr, NIEA, Sparks, SOWP #3709-M
Steven Rosenfeld, Infoage Librarian, Tech at WOO
SPARKS - JOURNAL
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